4 Paradise Sukima
by WillieG.R
Summary: Marisa Kirisame makes a terrible mistake that costs her and Gensokyo a big mess, and the possibility of Reimu's enmity. Will Marisa be able to restore the balance and regain Reimu's friendship and trust?
1. Chapter 1

**Before we start here, I want to thank those who left those nice reviews on Rika Onkamikami's story. It really gave me the will to write even faster.**

**Hope you enjoy this new chapter in the Sukima series!  
**

* * *

It's a dark winter day in Gensokyo.

The cold weather dampens everyone's fighting spirits, youkai and human alike.

Everyone is either sleeping, or just relaxing in front of a warm fire.

All seems calm and peaceful... except at the Hakurei Shrine.

Rumia flies aimlessly by and hears Reimu shouting "Suika, stop it! If you want sake, drink from your own gourd!"

Suika replies "hai~!" while Rumia says "I-i-is th-that s-s-s-so~?"

Two days have passed since Rika left to her annual checkup in the outside world, and Reimu is excitedly preparing a small welcoming party for her return.

Inside the shrine, Reimu has prepared food, drinks and party favors, banners with the words "Welcome Home" hung all around the inside of the shrine, the floor sparkling clean, colorful ornaments hang from the ceiling... and Suika, who once again tries to taste the bottles of sake Reimu has neatly placed on the table.

Reimu is in her room and she figures it's her chance, so she goes for it.

Her hand is mere inches away from her prize when she is struck on the head with a solid gohei.

Reimu glares down at Suika and says "you greedy little oni! You have you OWN unlimited supply of sake, so stop trying to steal the sake for the party!"

Reimu rushes away to the kitchen, mumbling happily to herself "great, the pies are done."

With a childish expression on her face, Suika stares at Reimu and says "you need to calm down."

Reimu places a second pie on the table at the kitchen then stares at Suika with a most natural smile, then suddenly laughs and in a fast fashion she says "Ha ha ha! I am calm! Can't you see, ah hahahaha I'm so calm I'm laughing? HAHAHAHA!"

Suika scratches her cheek as a small drop of sweat courses through it, listening to Reimu laugh manically, claiming to be calm when she clearly is not.

Suika sighs and asks "Reimu, are you lying to me?"

Reimu stops on her tracks and turns her face to Suika, twitches, then says "well I AM CALM! If I weren't, I'd be hunting naughty youkai that cause trouble!"

Suika continues staring at Reimu with that childish expression of hers, then thinks "thank goodness. For a moment there, I thought you were lying."

Reimu turns toward Suika, and clenching her hands below her into a pair of fists, she shouts "hey! I heard that!"

Suika's face fills with undeniable surprise and shock, and sounding frightened she says "Reimu is a satori maiden!"

Reimu places one hand on her face and says "*sigh* look, I just want this to be a very special surprise for Rika. She promised she'd come back tomorrow, so I want to surprise her... And you're not helping me at all!"

Suika sighs, then says "of course I've been helping. I've been making sure the sake tastes good!"

Reimu gasps and rushes to the bottles of sake and picks two of them up. Empty...

Fire rises from all around Reimu, her eyes turn dark yellow as she clenches jagged teeth. From outside the shrine Reimu's voice is heard shouting "Suika~~!!!"

-

Suika runs around the shrine, crying as Reimu follows and smacks her repeatedly with a broom repeatedly while shouting "you see? I was calm earlier! NOW I'M MAD!"

Suika cries "I'm sorry- OW~! They were just so tasty!"

Suika and Reimu run to the shrine's gates where they stop the moment they see a bright yellow flash just above the village.

From the flash, the dark silhouette of an adult woman emerges, then quickly flies to the Forest of Magic, landing in one of the clearings. The dark clouds and the snow make it harder to tell who it is, however.

Shortly after, she flies to another spot in the forest, then again to another spot, then heads toward the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Suika, holding her head with both hands and with small tears clinging on her eyes comments "must be sight-seeing..."

The figure now lands in the village and seems to stay there for a moment.

Reimu looks curiously and calmly asks "do you think it's an incident?"

The figure flies fast out of the village, then heads straight to the shrine.

Reimu pulls out some needles and charms from under her sleeve and says "Suika, get ready!"

The woman gets close to the shrine at great speeds and long before they attack, Reimu says "Suika wait! That's Ayalina!"

Ayalina's faint voice calls "Reimu~~! Hakurei maiden~~!"

There's urgency in her call, so without hesitation Reimu shouts back "OVER HERE~!" waving an arm in the air.

Ayalina's face is puffy and red, her eyes even redder and dark, seemingly crying.

Concerned, Reimu asks "Ayalina, what's the matter!?"

Urgently, Ayalina asks "Reimu, have you seen Anilan!?"

Both Reimu and Suika look at Ayalina with confusion on their faces, and as Reimu slowly shakes her head Suika says "sorry, but no, we haven't seen him since he left 2 months ago."

Quickly, Reimu asks "what happened!?"

Ayalina starts to shake violently, then sniffles uncontrollably.

Reimu gently pats her shoulder and says "let's go inside... I'll make us some tea!"

-

Under the light of the shrine Reimu gets a better look of Ayalina.

It's obvious she's been crying for a very long time from the terrible look on her face.

Her hair, which is usually kept in a neat bun is now lose and unkempt.

She's wearing her usual plaid-green dress, but it's all crumpled and dirty, even under her apron.

Reimu hands over a cup of warm tea, which Ayalina drinks while trembling very violently, almost spilling it.

Reimu places a hand on Ayalina's shoulder and gently says "please, calm down... sit down, it might help-"

Ayalina quickly finishes her tea and pushes her cup on Reimu, hurriedly saying "I can't! I have to find him!"

Reimu asks "what happened!? Is there's anything we can help with?"

Ayalina takes a few desperate breaths, then says "y-yesterday's s-solar... *gulp* After yesterday's strange solar eclipse Ail called home. He-he said he loved us and that he was fine... that he had to hide..."

Reimu and Suika look at each other with fright and panic, then Reimu says "that... The solar eclipse that was caused by Flandre's spell*..."

As if not listening to Reimu Ayalina continues "I've been looking for him ever since, Reimu, but I can't find him! I can't even sense him! I thought he was here, but nobody has seen him over here either!"

Without saying another word and with a determined look on her face, Reimu walks outside the shrine, but Mima stops her and says "I heard that last part!"

Mima floats inside the shrine and sits on her ghostly tail next to the table, then closes her eyes and concentrates.

A minute passes by and Mima seems to be trying to concentrate harder than usual, then opens her eyes and says "he... Reimu, he broke the link. There's no way I can contact him."

Ayalina feels a heavy tug in her heart and her desire to cry takes over all her senses, but she steels herself and manages to stop from crying.

Saddened, Reimu walks to Ayalina and says "I, I'm sorry but we can't do anything."

Ayalina lets a single tear escape her left eye, allowing it to tread across her cheek as she says "it's alright... you tried."

Ayalina turns to Mima, bows and says "thank you for everything... If you find anything, please contact me. I'll continue looking for him outside."

Before Reimu can ask how to contact her, Ayalina gives her a red rose that looks like it's made of glass, though feels like a real rose, then says "if you find anything, call my name through this, and don't worry, this rose will know when it's to contact me... so there are no accidents."

Reimu takes a little while to absorb all that, then says "please, if you find him out there you let us know."

Ayalina smiles and says "I know. You all care about him too."

With those last words, Ayalina glows green and white for a moment, then there's a loud poofing sound.

Mima rushes to where Ayalina was standing and looks with surprise at the flowers that now grow on the floorboard.

Reimu kneels down and touches one of them, then they all turn to magical dust that vanish in the air.

Suika, sounding a bit saddened, says "I hope she can find him."

Reimu looks at the rose Ayalina gave her, then says "me too, Suika."

Mima floats by the shrine's porch, wondering what could have caused Ail to cut their link like that, and hopes she is able to ask him that herself.

-

At a secluded house in the Forest of Magic, the house of Marisa Kirisame, not a single light was on, even in a day as dark as this.

Outside on the roof of the house, the snow is piling up, the windows look dirty, the path leading to the house seems non-existent, in short, the house looks as though it's been abandoned.

However, that is not the case. Burring her nose inside a few books, Marisa continues to work inside her new basement, drawing countless magical circles and looking dreadfully tired while doing so.

Her eye-lines are dark, her face and her eyes look as though she's had her face scrunched up by a raging youkai, her clothes are very dirty and even her hair looks like it's lost some of its shine.

After reading one of the many open books one last time, she goes back to the center of the room, where she has drawn a large star encased in a thick circle, surrounded by symbols and runes and MORE magical circles, all in different colors, some with thicker lines, others fully painted inside while others look plain, and in front of it all, white stones that make the shape of a door, all magically adhered to the wall.

Marisa finishes drawing one last rune, and triumphantly she raises both arms in the air and shouts "I DID IT! I'm FINALLY DONE!!!"

She grabs the last book she was looking at and raises it above her head while saying "thank you miss Hijiri! Without these, I'd have never figure that out!"

She sniffs around, quickly lowers her arms, twisting her face in disgust, then says "ugh! I need a bath..."

After a bath and a nice warm meal, Marisa heads to her room in the attic, carrying one of the books she borrowed from Byakuren.

Wearing a thin white shirt and her bloomers, she gets under her blanket and reads the book she brought with her.

She slowly lets her eyes drop as she reads the last pages of her book, then she suddenly opens them up round and wide.

From outside the house she can be heard shouting "NO WAY! Now what am I gonna do!?"

-

The next morning, refreshed, rested, and a little lost about her next step, Marisa walks out of her house, wearing her usual winter outfit, navy-blue hat, dress and skirt, pink shirt and undergarments, a large pink bow on her hat, and a white petticoat and a light blue shawl over her shoulder.

She takes a deep breath and says to herself "ah~, this isn't going to be easy."

She rubs her chin with her left hand and says "Sukima won't help, and if I ask her she'll just blab it all to Reimu. I want this to be a surprise, ze!"

She snaps her fingers and smiles, but before she says anything else she frowns and says "ah that's right. That dummy left to the outside world. Hmm... Maybe I could try a..."

Marisa's train of thought is interrupted by a pair of familiar voices in the distance.

She looks to the sky and comments to herself "whoa... it's pretty bright today... wait, aren't those Budou and Kyo?"

Above the forest, a wild vampire youkai tries to fly away as fast as possible, but she is stopped by a fireball that comes from Kyo's hand. Budou exclaims "nice one! Now let's bring her to justice!"

Kyo wears a pink muscle shirt under an unbuttoned blue shirt, wooden sandals, and long black pants.

He hovers next to Budou takes a brave and heroic pose, pointing his red sword at the vampire and saying "you're gonna pay for clawing that kid!"

Budou wears a brown dress that no longer needs the two large black buttons to held it closed, however she's kept her teal apron and changed her small white bow for a much larger white bow with black linings.

She's also wearing a pair of pink socks that seems to allow the claws on her feet to go through without actually breaking.

The little bat youkai covers her mouth while she chuckles and bluntly says "so says the man in pink, tee hee!"

A large vein pulsates on Kyo's forehead and says "careful, you are talking to your MASTER!"

Budou replies "you're the one who made fun of my socks! They were a gift from papa!"

Kyo turns to face Budou and says "it was just an observation!"

Budou replies "you were giggling!"

Kyo growls loudly, then says "let's just get this over with!"

Budou simply says "hmph" as they turn to face the vampire, who surprisingly enough just floats there and stares awestruck at the two.

She points at them and asks "this is what the village sends to deal with me? Anyway, that was an ACCIDENT! I was aiming for the dog! Geez, I never thought the kid would get in the way like that!"

Kyo and Budou both get angry, fire rising from behind them as their eyes turn red, then Kyo asks first "what do you mean by that!?"

Budou adds "I'm strong, you meanie!"

The vampire starts to laugh, then says "this is RICH! A clown in pink that shoots fire... and a speck of dust that thinks she's so~ great! What's so great about a cute little baby bat youkai that eats FRUIT and befriends humans?"

Kyo whispers "Budou, she's desperate. Don't let her taunt..."

Budou sniffle, making Kyo turn his head to look at her. Her eyes are already watery and her face is all red from holding back her tears.

Her entire body twitches as she quietly sobs, her eyes getting more and more glassy with every passing moment.

Kyo panics and quickly says "Budou! Budou, calm down! Come on kid, don't do this! You're strong! Just let her have it!"

The youkai continues "let me have what? A laugh? Oh look, she's starting to cry~ Oh, boo-hoo!" while she mocks Budou, faking she's rubbing her eyes and making kissing sounds.

Budou is doing her best to steel herself, but then the youkai adds "you little cry-baby. Who's going to save you when you're out in this cold and cruel world..? Your mom... or perhaps... your daddy~!?"

Her words echo inside Budou's head and the young youkai can't take it anymore.

She clenches her eyes tight and rubs them with her little fists as she cries so loud she unsettles the entire forest.

Kyo panics even more and says "no, no Budou! C-come on, be tough!"

Out of nowhere, a loud and powerful female voice makes the land below rumble as she shouts "Kyo~~~!!!"

-

The vampire panics, Budou continues to bawl and Kyo trembles with great fear.

He looks at the vampire with terror in his eyes and says "Sanae..."

The vampire raises an eyebrow and confused she asks "Sanae? Is that some sort of spell or somethi-GAH!!!"

From behind the youkai, a dark female silhouette with bright angry yellow eyes raises its arms while holding a square weapon on her right hand and just as her hands strike down on the vampire Kyo gets in front of Budou, covering her sight while looking toward the violent scene himself, where constant smacking and crunching sounds come from.

The vampire screams in agony and Kyo exclaims "by the GODS! That's not suppose to DO THAT!"

The vampire gurgles then Kyo gasps and shouts "inverted hell's wedgie~!!"

He covers his eyes until the sounds stop, then watches as the vampire, who looks like a ball now, falls to the ground, where Orin catches it in her wheelbarrow, shouting "thanks sis~! This should do NICELY!"

Kyo looks back up and Sanae's silhouette is now gone.

He looks around with horror still present in his face, then, as if realizing something, he turns around and there is Sanae holding Budou in her arms, humming a lullaby and saying "shh, it's ok now. It's ok."

Kyo keeps his distance and thinks of flying away, but long before he can move Sanae turns her glare his way and asks "you were picking on her again, weren't you!?"

Kyo exclaims "I WASN'T picking on her, EVER! It's TRAINING! She's never going to get stronger if you keep butting in!"

In an instant, Sanae is face-to-face to Kyo and while glaring straight into his eyes she says "she... is a little... girl. Not a brute or a tomboy! You either help her train appropriately, or you're going to be in trouble with ME!"

Kyo stares back with a frightened expression and simply nods without saying a word.

Sanae smiles and says "glad we understand each other."

While Sanae deals with Kyo, Budou pulls out the golden whistle Ail gave her before leaving, then takes a deep breath.

Sanae feels this and sounding a little sad she says "are you sure about this? You know, maybe it would be best if you wait just a little longer."

Budou sobs then softly cries "I don't care. I want to see him. I want papa back."

Sanae pats her head, but before she says anything, Kyo, sounding very serious, says "you know, you could blow on that now and have Ail come back... In fact I'd love it if you did that because I miss him too. But think about it a little more. You wanted to become stronger for him, for when he came back. Tell me, do you really believe you are ready?"

Budou continues to hold the whistle close to her lips for a moment, her eyes hidden in shadow.

She drops it on Sanae's back, however the lace around it, which is bound to Budou's neck prevents it from falling to the ground.

She sobs again and without looking back she says "alright... I'll wait. I need to become stronger... so I can help him. I want to help him."

Sanae tilts her own head and rests it on Budou's as she brushes her hair with her fingers, then softly says "let's just go home for today... and Kyo... Thanks, and sorry. I know you have your own training methods, but you have to remember that she is a child, regardless of her age."

Kyo quietly nods, and after floating there for a few more seconds, they leave.

-

From below, with a smile on her face and a glint on her eyes, Marisa stares at Budou's whistle as it hangs on Sanae's back and says to herself "so~ a magical whistle that can call papa Ail back here... I see it. Summoning properties embedded on the mouth piece. This is it! Oh, but wait! I need those goddesses on my side... this is one tough puzzle. Hmm~"

Marisa closes her eyes and rubs her chin while she thinks, but she quickly gets bored and says "well, something will come up. Something always does!"

She raises her hand to the air and her magical bamboo broom simply materializes next to it.

She grabs it and sits on it, and while smiling with confidence she says "while I think of something I'll go pay some visits. I've been cooped up inside that basement for a while. I'm sure they all miss me!"

At the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library, Marisa has sneaked her way in again.

Patchouli happily greets her, saying "Sun Sign Royal Flare!"

Marisa replies this happy greeting, shouting "Love Colored Master SPARK~!"

Patchouli's density-defying magic is quickly defeated by Marisa's fast beam of light, and the librarian finds herself on the floor, covered in burn marks before she knows what hit her.

Almost on top of her to her left, Marisa grins widely and says "long time no see, ze!"

Before Patchouli can answer Flandre tackles Marisa and while hugging her on the ground she shouts "MARISA~! Where have you been!? I've got so many things to show you!"

A silver washtub falls right on top of Flandre's head, making a very loud clank and even bending out of recognizable shape.

Flandre looks a little confused, letting out a soft "huh?" as she looks around.

Marisa stares with surprise and asks "Flan! Are you ok?"

Flandre giggles and rubs her head, then says "well of course. Come, come! I want to show you something!"

Marisa chuckles as Flandre drags her away and says "alright, alright, don't pull so hard."

Hiding behind a bookcase, Koakuma pouts as she stares at a spell card on her hand whispers to herself "drat, it still needs work."

Patchouli stands to the right of the mischievous assistant and asks "so you were aiming for me, weren't you?"

Koakuma's hair stands on end as she yelps in surprise.

-

Flying back to the Forest of Magic, Marisa smiles as she says to herself "that Flan got a REALLY nice toy there. Hmm~ I wonder what kind of magic holds that saucer thing up in the air like that...? Oh well. Next stop, Alice. I'm sure she must miss me a lot, da-ze!"

At Alice's house, Shanghai finishes dusting around the windows and proudly says "mama Alice~ I cleaned the windows!"

From her room, Alice replies "you are such a good girl, Shanghai. Thanks!"

Shanghai smiles with a very please and content look, placing both hands on her cheeks.

Hourai comes from the kitchen, hugging herself and shivering.

Shanghai asks "Hourai, how can you be cold?"

Hourai sneezes, then says "because of the ghost."

Shanghai doesn't believe what she's hearing, and sounding a little annoyed she says "Hourai, there's not ghost in here. Besides, we are strong enough to deal with one."

From the kitchen, a whimsical voice says "oh, is that so? Perhaps you'd like to show me how strong you are?"

Shanghai and Hourai twitch and slowly turn around, finding Yuyuko standing right behind them, smiling whimsically.

The two little dolls yelp and immediately fly away to Alice's room, Shanghai screaming "mama, she wants to eat us!"

Just as the dolls enter the room Marisa bursts in through the front door, shouting "hay-a~, Alice! I come to play with... eh?"

Marisa notices Yuyuko in the kitchen, who continues to smile as she waves at the witch.

Marisa waves back and says "now this is a strange sight. Alice has visitors?"

From the corridor, Alice angrily says "un-WELCOME visitors! Two of them, even!"

Marisa is going to reply, but Yuyuko beats her to it, saying "aww, don't be like that."

Alice immediately points her finger at Yuyuko and asks "what are you doing here, and what is this about eating my dolls."

Before Yuyuko replies, Alice points at Marisa, who raises her hands while smirking widely, then asks "and what are YOU doing here? Not planning to steal more books, I hope!"

Marisa sweats and says "I don't steal them, I borrow them. I told you already, I'll return them after I die."

Yuyuko excitedly says "ah, I can arrange that for you now if you like."

Marisa smiles and casually replies "no, no. It's not my time yet."

While Yuyuko and Marisa continue a most lovely conversation about death, Alice slowly loses her patience, then suddenly shouts "could the both of you PLEASE get out!?"

Yuyuko says "certainly. Just let me take these two little souls with me" while pointing at the two dolls.

Shanghai and Hourai quickly whimper and cling on Alice's shoulder.

Alice smiles dangerously and asks "why in the HELL would I ever hand these two to you in the first place!?"

Yuyuko thinks for a moment, then says "because it's the right thing to do."

Alice takes a deep breath, but Marisa speaks before her "whoa, that's a tough one to beat."

Yuyuko smiles and bows, saying "thank you."

A large vein pulsates on Alice's forehead as she smiles and pulls a spell card from her pocket, and before Marisa and Yuyuko can convince her to stop she shouts "Curse Sign Shanghai Doll!"

Shanghai positions herself on Alice's hand, and combining their powers they fire a large thick purple beam that sends both Yuyuko and Marisa flying out the door and on to the cold snow outside.

Alice stands on her door and says "good day to you!" then slams the door shut.

Marisa gets up from the snow and while Yuyuko stands up afterwards, she says "well, that went much better than I expected, ze."

Smiling, Yuyuko says "oh, I agree."

-

That afternoon, Marisa flies straight to the Moriya Shrine, and upon landing she looks around and notices Sanae and Budou aren't there.

She scratches her head under her hat, then thinks "darn, the kid isn't here... but at least Sanae is gone too."

She snaps her finger, winking to the air and smiling as she says "I came by at just the right time, ze!"

Marisa jumps with a fright when Suwako, who sits like a frog on the snow, asks from behind "the right time for what?"

Marisa Quickly recovers from the fright and with a smile on her face she says "Suwako, how are ya!? Say, Kanako wouldn't happen to be around, right?"

Again, Marisa jumps in fright, though this time she falls on top of Suwako, when Kanako comes from behind and asks "now why would you need to speak to two goddesses in such a beautiful winter afternoon?"

Suwako forcefully pushes Marisa off her back, and the witch manages to fall right on her feet, already holding a book with its pages open, and with a confident smile she says "ladies, you wish to help Gensokyo thrive and advance a little, right? Well here's your lucky day!"

Marisa shows them the book, to which Suwako asks "do you even know where this leads to?"

Marisa confidently says "of course! To a REAL paradise. One filled with enough resources to literally sky-rocket progress AND turn Gensokyo into an advanced world that balances both magic And technology... What do you think?"

Kanako takes the book away from Marisa and stares at it for a while.

She bends down when Suwako lightly taps her thigh, allowing her to see into the book some more.

They whisper something into each other, then Kanako asks "alright, before we give you our answer, tell us exactly what are we supposed to do."

Marisa sighs and says "well, being a human, I am only capable of drawing the symbols and the circles and those stars, but it takes the blessing of a god to make this work as it should... so what I need you to do is to come to my home and bless the room, the circles, the symbols, the stones..."

Marisa places both hands together in front of herself as if praying, winking and bowing her head, then asks "so, will you help?"

Kanako and Suwako raise an eyebrow at each other, then look with suspicion at Marisa, though by the time they look to Marisa, she's all the way at their shrine, donating three one thousand yen marks and offering a prayer.

From there Marisa shouts "so, will you help!?"

The goddesses approach Marisa and return her book, then Kanako loudly says "I'M SORRY LITTLE WITCH, BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO FOOL SOMEONE ELSE, YOU HEAR ME!?"

Marisa frowns and sounding disappointed she says "o-oh... I see. Well, sorry to have bothered you. I'll see you later then."

Marisa hides her disappointed look in her eyes with her hat as she climbs on her broom, but before she lifts off, Suwako pulls her arm and winks, then whispers "tomorrow."

Marisa continues to hide her eyes under her hat, but her smile is so wide it's impossible to hide.

Shortly after Marisa leaves, Sanae and Budou arrive to the shrine. Sanae asks "what did she want?"

Kanako shrugs and looking uninterested she says "don't know. I wasn't paying attention."

-

The next morning, Marisa wakes up with a sprint, sweating and breathing heavily.

She is still only half awake as she says "no... Tha-that's not..."

In her mind she sees the faint traces of a nightmare where she has taken Gensokyo's barrier in her hand and literally pulls on it and pockets it.

Shortly after, then entire land of Gensokyo gets covered by concrete buildings, the trees replaced by metal poles with round lights on them, the fauna and flora disappears before her eyes and replaced by black rivers where vehicles pass by, emanating dark clouds that makes breathing a chore.

As she looks on she suddenly finds herself at the Hakurei Shrine, where an aged Reimu stares at her with contempt and asks "are you happy?" just before collapsing and turning to dust.

Aged as well, Marisa reaches for Reimu's remains, calling "Reimu! Reimu, no! I want to save you! Come with me. Come with me!"

Back in her house, Marisa yelps, this time holding both hands against her face, sweating even more and breathing with effort.

She finally wakes up and realizes she is still young, Gensokyo is still a beautiful paradise... and realizes it was all a nightmare.

She rushes to her bathroom where she has accumulated water and dunks her head into the sink, pulling it out almost immediately and looks at herself in the mirror.

Her frightened expression slowly changes to powerful determination and while staring straight into her own eyes she says "Reimu, I will save you! Once I finally open this gate... You'll see, Reimu. I'll save you."

-

Later that morning, Marisa arrives to the Hakurei shrine and after spotting Reimu sweeping the front yard she smiles widely and waves her hand, shouting "OY~! Reimu~!"

Reimu doesn't respond, which confuses Marisa, then she says to herself "whoa, maybe I should have visited earlier..."

Marisa lands next to the gate, away from Reimu, then repeats "oy, Reimu!"

Reimu slowly turns to face Marisa; her face looking casual, though in her eyes the sadness she's feeling becomes obvious to anyone.

Speaking softly, as if devoid of energy or will, Reimu says "oh, Marisa. It's been so long. How are you?"

Marisa quickly approaches Reimu, realizing her friend isn't mad at her at all, then asks "Reimu, what's the matter?"

Reimu turns her head away from Marisa and continues sweeping the same spot she was sweeping before, and by the looks of it, she hasn't been doing a thing there as the snow continues to pile up.

Marisa exclaims "Reimu! You are sick!!!"

She grabs Reimu by her elbow and drags her away from the broom, which continues to sweep slowly on its own before it finally falls on the ground.

Marisa drags Reimu all the way inside the shrine and notices Aya and Suika sitting under the kotatsu, and sounding aggravated she asks "hey, you've been here all the time and didn't even notices!? What kind of friends are you!?"

Aya and Suika stare at Marisa and the really weakened Reimu, and Aya asks "whatever do you mean?"

Marisa pulls Reimu closer, making her looks like a rag-doll, then points at her with her right hand and says "THIS!! Reimu is THIS sick and you let her out in the snow like that!"

Both stare back a little saddened now, then Aya manages a weak smile as she says "she... She is not sick, Marisa."

Suika lowers her head and says "she's sad."

Marisa raises her right eyebrow, grabs the limp Reimu by her waist and stares at her, then asks "sad, you say? And why is that?"

Drooping on Marisa's arms and looking away, a few tears escape Reimu as she says "she never came back... And she promised... Bus she's not back. She left too. I was bad, wasn't I?"

Marisa narrows her eyes as a large sweat drop forms right on top of her hat while staring at Reimu, then looks at Aya and Suika, then asks "did I miss something, ze?"

Suika takes a few gulps from her gourd before answering "Rika was supposed to come back yesterday..."

Aya sighs and continues for Suika "but she didn't come. Though what's strange is that gap hag didn't come either."

Marisa lets out a quiet "oh" when Suika suddenly comments "maybe that old hag ate her."

Like a phoenix rising from its own ashes, proud roaring flames around itself and singing it's powerful song, Reimu springs back to full life and screams Yukari's name in a rage.

Marisa covers her head and backs away as she says "WHOA~! She's a whole new person now!"

Suika stares on with her usual childish face as Reimu shouts "don't just sit there! Help me find Yuk-"

Reimu stops speaking and just looks around, then lifts her right hand.

The symbol left the night Reimu made the master-servant pact with Rika is glowing, and Reimu suddenly feels Rika's life slowly drain away somewhere.

She trembles and whispers "Rika..."

Marisa stares back at her friend as Reimu's face loses all its color and her eyes fill with dread, and with great worry, she asks "Reimu, what's wrong!?"

In a flash, Reimu flies straight out of the shrine, shouting Yukari's name over and over.

Worried, Marisa quickly summons her broom to her hand and flies after her friend, Suika and Aya following shortly after.

-

Suika is left behind, while Aya and Marisa follow an orange trail left behind by Reimu.

Aya and Marisa look at each other, then Marisa comments "she's going too fast. She might end up hurt!"

Aya nods and says "you take the left, I'll take the right!"

They split apart, increasing their speed in hopes to catch up to Reimu and manage to trap her... unless she decides to attack them.

Further ahead, Reimu shouts "YUKARI~~! Yukari where is Rika~!?"

She stops for a moment and looks around, then heads toward the Misty Lake, thinking "last time I entered Mayohiga I went through the lake. Maybe it'll work again!"

Before she can reach the lake, Marisa and Aya surround her, then Marisa shouts "Reimu, slow down! You're going to drain yourself if you keep flying this fast!"

Reimu shouts "I don't care! Rika's in danger, I just know it!"

From her right, Aya shouts "you are using too much energy! You're going to crash!"

Reimu shouts back "I said I don't care! I'm finding that Yukari and she's taking me to Rika, whether she wants to or not!"

Marisa reaches for Reimu's arm and grabs hold of her just as Reimu's mind shuts down and she falls.

She struggles to keep herself balanced while pulling Reimu, avoiding some trees as she loses altitude, but thankfully Aya grabs Reimu's other arm and helps Marisa with the load.

Holding Reimu, they make an u-turn to the shrine and while on mid-flight, Aya position Reimu behind Marisa on her broom, and after they flip their thumbs up, they speed up, hurriedly taking Reimu with them.

At the shrine, Reimu lies on her futon feeling completely drained and exhausted.

Marisa and Aya kneel to her left while Suika and Mima kneel to her right, Suika placing a damp cloth on Reimu's forehead.

Weakly, Reimu says "she's really gone. Marisa... she left."

Marisa sighs, patting her head, wanting to say some comforting words to her friend, but can't find the correct ones.

She gasps suddenly after feeling a warm wind course through her body, then says "Reimu, I'm going home and pick up some things, then I'll come back soon, I promise. You just rest."

Mima looks at her former apprentice, then says "hey..."

Marisa stares at Mima for some time, then Mima says to her "you don't have to do this if you don't want to. Reimu has lots of friends to care for her already."

Marisa smiles, feeling relieved, then stands up while putting on her hat, then says "I'm not leaving Reimu like this. I'm her friend, ze; and I haven't been around for a while... She needs my presence in the right dozes or she'll flip!"

Sweating, Aya and Suika stare at each other while smiling sheepishly.

Mima simply smirks and says "that's my girl. Bring some sake on the way back, will ya?"

Marisa tips her hat to Mima, then turns around, leaves the shrine and flies away to her house in the snowy afternoon.

-

Kanako and Suwako are already waiting inside Marisa's house, though the door was still locked when Marisa herself walks in.

They exchange some quiet smiles, then Suwako breaks the silence when she says "now I understand the real reason is because you want to help Reimu, however..."

Kanako switches to a serious expression as she says "...understand that our reasons for helping you is to help Gensokyo flourish to a new era. Not for Reimu."

Marisa smirks as she hides her eyes under her hat and walks past the two goddesses, saying "this way, ladies. Be careful with that first step."

Marisa leads the two goddesses down a small narrow passage to her new basement, where the gate she has prepared awaits activation.

Wasting no time, the two goddesses walk to the larger star at the center of the room and begin with their blessings.

The entire room shines so bright Marisa has to use her hat to cover her face so as not to end up blind.

There is a loud magical whirring sound, and then the loud sound of a door being unlocked.

Suwako says "done" and Marisa lowers her hat.

The magical circles now shine in various colors, the stars, symbols and runes have turned to pure gold, and the stones on the wall make the shape of an archway and shine bright pure white.

Kanako looks around herself, seemingly impressed and says "amazing. For a human to actually make this work. You must have poured your all into this."

Marisa smirks as she places her hat back on her head and says "I'm doing this for someone very special. After this she won't have to resolve another incident... ever!"

Suwako stares seriously at Marisa and says "those are pretty big words there. In any case, you have to wait a month before the gate is ready to open. After that, take all the time you need."

Kanako adds "you better be right about this Paradise because from now on, you are on your own, and if something happens, it's YOUR own fault. We never came here, and we most certainly never saw into that book... you understand?"

Marisa stares back with a most serious face, then nods.

Kanako and Suwako nod back, then quietly walk out of the room, but not before Suwako smirks mischievously and says "you should clean up this house. It's a complete mess."

-

The next morning, at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu wakes up inside a futon next to Marisa's and slowly sits up.

She looks around and sighs, then notices Marisa, still in her normal winter clothes and blowing a nose-bubble while snoring lightly.

She stares for a moment, then suddenly smiles and mouths "thank you, Marisa."

Marisa wakes up a few hours after Reimu, and after she realizes Reimu isn't in her futon, she panics and springs up, shouting "Reimu! Where are you?"

From the kitchen Reimu calmly replies "it's alright. I'm here."

Marisa feels as her heart slows down back to a healthy beat, then says "phew! For a moment I though you left looking for Sukima again... How are you feeling?"

Reimu smiles back at Marisa and says "thank you... and Aya and Suika too. All of you."

Reimu walks to Marisa and gives her a hug, saying "I'm so glad you're back! I really am."

Marisa blushes and lightly pushes Reimu away, then Reimu stares at her seriously, then says "and if you tell anyone about this I'm going to kill you!"

Marisa sweats and smirks, backing away from Reimu, then says "my lips are sealed!"

The shrine doors suddenly slide open, and behind them is Aya, holding her camera on her right hand and bearing a wide crescent smile, Suika with a mischievous look on her face, and Mima smiling and blushing just slightly.

Reimu mysteriously holds her gohei on her right hand and bangs it on her left hand while smiling at her friend with a blood-thirsty look on her.

Aya sweats and asks "eh... Reimu? Why are you looking at us like that...?"

At the front of the shrine, a lone female villagers reaches the top of the shrine, approaches the donation box and holds a few coins in her hand to toss in, however, the screaming of Aya, Mima and Suika, accompanied by loud smacking sounds and Reimu shouting "GIVE ME THAT!" startle the girl to a run back to the village just before she tosses the money in.

Later that day, Marisa is about to leave the shrine, but before she does, she wants to make sure Reimu is ok.

She finds Reimu sitting by the shrine's porch, facing the hot springs while enjoying some tea and just thinking to herself.

She approaches the maiden and before she asks Reimu says "if you're worried about me, don't. I'm fine. It hurts that she left like she did... and now I'm not even sure she's alive... but at least I got you, Aya, Mima... Sakuya..."

Marisa sits down next to Reimu and says "you still sound depressed to me."

Reimu springs to her feet and shouts "well of COURSE I AM!"

She calms down again and drops on her knees, holding her teacup again, then says "but I'll get over it. So it's ok-"

A voice in front of the shrine calls "hello~! Reimu~! Are you actually working today?"

Yukari floats inside her gap, looking casually around the shrine.

Nobody answers her so she shrugs and says "oh well, I can come back later... GYAH!"

She is knocked out of her gap, which quickly closes up, and she feels a heavy object pressuring her back, pressing her entire being on to the snow, then in an ominous voice Reimu says "give me ONE good reason why I shouldn't seal you for GOOD, you useless hag!"

Forcing a nervous smile Yukari replies "my-hi~, well aren't we in high spirits?"

Reimu presses harder on Yukari's back with her foot, then Yukari says "ow, ow, ow! Geez Reimu, all this because I forgot!?"

Reimu backs away and angrily asks "forgot WHAT?"

Yukari mouths "geez, you even sealed my gaps" and quickly realizes Reimu is staring curses straight at her, so she flinches and backs away, then nervously says "that Rika was going to stay home for a few more days, and that she'd be back soon. In 4 days... well actually, in 2 more... 1 if you don't count this glorious afternoon."

A giant vein pops on Reimu's head as the maiden shouts "WHAT DID YOU SAY~~!?"

From the side of the shrine, Marisa says "oh boy.... it was nice knowing her!"

Marisa rushes away from the scene, looking terrified and pulling down on her hat, and just afterwards Reimu shouts "Divine Spirit Fantasy SEAL!"

Yukari shouts "no, wait. REIMU!"

Before the first set of explosions finish Reimu shouts "Treasure Tool Yin-Yang Demon God Orb!"

Yukari shouts "no, wait! Reimu I can explain. KYAH!"

Reimu shouts "Divine Skill Foot of the Wind God Champion!"

There is a crunching noise along with Yukari's yelp, then Reimu shouts "Divine Arts Omnidirectional Demon Binding Circle!"

Yukari's scream echoes through the air all the way down to the village, then Reimu shouts "Amulet Youkai Repelling CHARM~!"

Marisa peeks from the corner of the shrine, but immediately jumps away as fast clouds of dust blow by, then Reimu shouts "Dream Land Super Duplex Border!"

Yukari shouts, though this time seemingly out of energy, then there's silence.

Marisa raises her head from the floor and finds Aya, Suika and Mima, all hugging beside her, trembling with a look of terror in their faces.

The next day, at Eirin's clinic, Yukari lies bed-ridden and completely covered in bandages with Reimu standing beside her, crossing her arms around her chest while staring angrily at her.

Yukari sighs, then says "I'll go get her tonight."

-

The next morning, Reimu paces around the gate of the shrine, saying "I'm going to completely murder her... Murder, murder, murder."

Marisa sits by the donation box and says "calm down, Reimu. After that overkill I doubt Sukima will let us down, ze."

Reimu stops pacing around and looks at Marisa, then says "wait, this scene is vaguely familiar..."

From behind Reimu, the familiar sound of one of Yukari's gaps opening makes her opens her eyes with expectation, so she quickly turns around, but there's nobody there but the lone gap.

Reimu gets closer and hears the faint screams of a girl.

The screaming rapidly gets closer, and then a girl falls from inside the gap face-first to the snow, holding her arms up while making the love symbol with her fingers.

Reimu gasps contently and smiles widely as the girl stands up.

She has wavy brown hair that reaches to half of her back, and wears a common-style shrine maiden kimono, with a long-sleeved white top that's broken at the back to allow her small white wings with the scar in the middle through, a long skirt that's white with red strips from both sides that go to the bottom end of her skirt, a red scarf around her neck that has the words "Will of" on one of its end, and on the other end the word "Fire", and wearing a most familiar sapphire yin-yang around her neck on a necklace.

Unnoticed by Reimu yet, is the cloth around her light-blue eyes.

The girl looks around and says "wh-where am I? M-miss Yukari, I can't see! Miss Yukari?"

Reimu jumps from where she stands, extending her arms in the air, ready to give Rika a bone-crushing and shouting "RIKA~! You're back~!"

Just before Reimu falls on her, Rika asks "my lady?"

From the donation box Marisa smirks and says "I hope Aya's getting all this. This is GOLD!"

There is a thud coming from where Reimu and Rika are, then Marisa smirks widely and says "oh yeah... pure gold... da-ze~."

-

To Be Continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Kyo, Ayalina and Budou were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

FEB 26 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

*= Check out "Dragon vs. Scarlet"

**A/N:**

**And FINALLY, Paradise Sukima begins. Honestly I was excitedly expecting to start this already. So Rika's home after Yukari received overkill-punishment just cuz she forgets to tell reimu the tiny detail that Rika wasn't coming back just yet. Oh well, I'll be working on this with a smile ":D" like this. I will make short pauses to work on some mishaps. Doing that will probably help me get more ideas for this story. Oh right, I'm blabbing again. Well, hope you enjoyed, and I sincerely hope you enjoy the rest of it... might be long.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

Marisa sits by the donation box next to Aya, both covered in bumps and bruises and smiling sheepishly, Aya softly asking "all that for three photos?"

Marisa's mouth is a little swollen, and seemingly mumbling she says "at leasht she zidn't ushe the shpell c-hardsh." (at least she didn't use the spell cards)

Meanwhile, Reimu and Rika stand next to the still open gap, Reimu getting a better look at Rika and saying "I'm so glad to see you're ok! This thing on my hand started glowing and I SWEAR I thought you were dying!"

Rika twitches and turns her head away while biting on her nails, and noticing this, Reimu asks "what?"

Rika smiles and unknowingly flaps her wings as she says "no, it's nothing my lady!"

Reimu finally realizes Rika has small angelic wings, and in surprise she asks "wait a minute? WINGS!? And a bandage over your eyes!? Rika, what happened!?"

Rika flinches, thinking her mistress is repulsed by her looks, but she steels herself to say and softly says "i-it's nothing, my lady. It's a long story, but I don't think you're interested."

Reimu proves her concern for Rika by asking "are you sure about that?" then gets closer and looking suspicious she says "wait a minute! Someone hurt you, didn't they!? That's why those wings were glowing! GRRR~! Rika, you tell me who did this to you! I'll RIP him apart!"

Miraculously recovered, Aya and Marisa grab hold of Reimu's arms, Marisa shouting "Reimu, calm down! You're scaring her!"

Aya adds "calm down already, she's home! Isn't that enough!?"

Reimu swings her arms and effortlessly sends both Aya and Marisa flying to the back of the shrine, revealing her golden whistle in her pocket to Marisa, who stops screaming and thinks "she has one too!"

Aya, however, screams for the both of them before they crash on the ground.

Again, Reimu approaches Rika and asks "now, what kind of degenerate monster would want to hurt you like this!?"

A small tear escapes Rika as she turns her head to the ground and away from Reimu, filling her mistress with even more concern, but calming her down.

Softly, Reimu says "Rika... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that."

Rika lifts her head, revealing a big smile along with her tears, then she launches herself to Reimu and after clinging on to her neck she says "I'm so happy, my lady! You really do care!"

Reimu blushes and trembles a little, noticing Yukari staring playfully at them from her gap, but she ignores Yukari's stare and hugs Rika back.

Yukari opens her fan to hide her face underneath it, then Rika says "oh, miss Yukari!"

Surprised, Reimu opens her eyes wide and says "whoa! Those are some sharp senses there."

Yukari chuckles and says "sorry I took so long. I was just having a little word with her friends. You know, it's almost unfair. They love Rika so much, and she's all the way over here, and they are all the way over the-"

Reimu rushes to Yukari and raising a fist she says "she promised she'd stay here, and I'm making her keep her word, you understand that!?"

Sweating, Yukari backs away and says "calm down, I was just saying... Anyway."

Yukari composes herself and says "I brought her back here safely, so now my job is done. Now if you don't mind, I have some sleeping to catch up to. Good day!"

With that, Yukari enters her gaps and closes it immediately, but Reimu manages to whisper "thank you" to which Yukari's "you're welcome~" echoes around the shrine.

Suddenly, Rika gasps and rummages all around her clothes looking for something.

Before Reimu asks, Rika pulls a scroll from inside her shirt and says "this is for you, my lady!"

Curious, Reimu opens the scroll and quickly eyes it, then excitedly exclaims "ah, how nice. A barrier manipulation scroll"

A glint escapes Reimu's eyes as she says "this will come in handy!", while Rika bows with a smile and says "you're most welcome, my lady."

-

A little while later, with some help from Reimu, Rika made some tea for her mistress and all present, as well as a little for herself.

Without spilling a drop, Rika takes the 6 cups of tea on a small plate, then places it on the table, getting some help from Mima, who pushes the plate away from the table's edge.

They all pick their teacups while Reimu picks hers, saying "Rika, really, you could have let me help a little more."

Rika replies "my lady, what kind of a servant would I be if I allowed something like that? Even blind, as I am now. Besides, if I don't do this now, I'll never get used to the shrine."

Mima sips on her tea, nodding and saying "she's got a point."

Aya sips on hers and adds "agreed."

Suika stares at hers and says "she's a strong kid. Let her show off that strength" then softly mouths "this could use some sake, though."

Reimu sighs in defeat and says "alright, fine! I'm sorry for being worried!"

Rika panics and faces Aya, saying "no, no, my lady! Thank you so much for your concern."

Aya stares back with a little embarrassment and mouths "wow, I suddenly feel so old."

Reimu immediately and casually says "that's because you are old, you hag."

Aya magically springs her wings out of hiding and rapidly says "I'm not old! I'm 17!"

Reimu calmly replies "yeah, yeah."

While Reimu and Aya have their discussion, Marisa stares at Reimu's left pocket and thinks "I only saw it for a second, but I'm sure it's the same whistle the kid has... So now I got two to choose from, but both are pretty well guarded... Maybe I could trick Reimu into letting me see it, then I could make a copy... but then she'd suspect something, and if I ask Budou, Sanae's going to be all over me... and I really want those goddesses on my side."

Reimu notices Marisa's focused stare and concernedly asks "Marisa, are you alright?"

Marisa smiles and says "oh, it's nothing, ze. Just started thinking there."

Reimu relaxes and with a light smile she says "well go home and get some rest. I am fine now."

Rika spits her tea and shouts "my lady is not well!? Oh no! Miss Reimu, let me take your temperature!"

While Reimu and Rika have a light struggle, Reimu insisting she's fine, Marisa thinks "Alice...! She can help me! I'm sure she can memorize the summoning spell that's embedded on it."

Marisa snaps out of her thoughts and realizes Rika has Aya in a headlock, saying "miss Reimu, please stop struggling!"

Reimu is standing just behind Rika, peacefully drinking her tea, while Aya shouts "I'm not REIMU, I'm AYA! I got wings!"

Rika lets her go and while blushing she says "oh my. Sorry~!"

-

That afternoon, after leaving the shrine, Marisa heads straight to Alice's house to ask for her help.

Immediately after landing next to the house, Marisa notices the door is open and asks herself "Alice has visitors again?"

She gets shocked and her heart almost stops when Alice shouts at the top of her lungs "GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE YOU USELESS SAGGING HAG~!!!"

Marisa recovers and comments "well, seems someone's in a good mood."

Inside the house, Yuyuko is haunting the place, going through walls with that whimsical smile of hers, making objects move on their own, possessing other dolls, and even pulling on Alice's underwear whenever she gets the chance.

Alice's abdomen looks unusually expanded as she runs around the house, looking for Yuyuko.

From inside her shirt, Hourai says "mama, get that mean ghost!"

Alice says "Hourai, sweetie, you're distracting me."

From behind her, through the wall, Yuyuko pops out looking translucent while smiling widely and saying "those souls don't belong there, little girl. Why don't you just hand them over and get this over with?"

Alice turns around, summoning one of her regular dolls and having it shoot colorful petal-shaped danmaku and shouting "why don't you got BACK to the netherworld and leave us ALONE!!?"

Before the bullets reach her, Yuyuko gets inside the wall again, then says "you stole those souls for my garden and I want them back."

Alice snaps back "WHY!?! So you can boss them around!? Besides, I already told you I didn't steal ANYTHING! They came to me and I've grown to love them. I WON'T let you take them without a fight!"

From inside her shirt Shanghai says "I love mama Alice too!"

Alice smiles and blushes, then says "you see? You can't take them away!"

Yuyuko's whimsical voice echoes "ah, that's really sweet, but if it's as you say, you should have reported this to the Yama, or to myself. What if those souls were tainted? What then?"

Alice can't answer back. She opens her eyes wide, looking inside her mind for any possible answer, and while she does this, Yuyuko pops out from under the floor right in front of Alice and reaches for the two dolls inside Alice's shirt.

Shanghai and Hourai scream as if in agonizing pain, which snaps Alice back from her mind and immediately she grabs the ghost princess' arms and pushes them away from her dolls, shouting "I'm not... letting you... take them AWAY!"

Yuyuko smiles wickedly, her maroon eyes glow red for a second, then she says "guess I'll do this the hard way, then."

Yuyuko grabs Alice's arms and starts to drain her very soul through them, saying "don't worry, I won't kill you. But you'll be in bed for a few days."

Yuyuko looks to her left with her usual whimsical face, and right in front of her face is Marisa's Hakkero, and next to it is Marisa's smiling face, saying "what a troublesome ghost... MASTER SPARK~~!!!"

Yuyuko gets blasted by a wide and colorful beam that breaks a large hole on Alice's house, and shortly after the beam stops, both Marisa and Alice fly out and head straight to the Hakurei Shrine.

-

Mid-way to the shrine, Marisa finishes explaining herself to Alice. "...but I want to surprise her with this, so I can't let her find out. Think you can help me there?" finishes Marisa.

Alice looks at her, rubs her head, then says "look, I would gladly help, but you saw what's going on right now. She almost took them away and I can't have that happen again. I'm asking Reimu for help. Now, if you give me some time, I could be able to help, but right now I'm too preoccupied with this."

Marisa looks away, hiding her saddened expression.

Alice knows this tactic all too well, so she reaches into her shirt and gently pulls out Shanghai, then says "LOOK!!"

Marisa turns her face to look at Shanghai.

The little doll looks as though she's having a lot of trouble breathing, her face looks greenish and she suddenly speaks, sounding weak an almost unable to. "Ma-mama... it's cold..."

Alice immediately takes her doll and places her inside her shirt, saying "Sorry, sorry. You rest now. The shrine maiden will help. Don't you worry."

After Alice hides Shanghai again she looks with an angry and determined face at Marisa and says "I care about these dolls... these girls too much, Marisa."

Marisa's expression changes, and with a smirk on her face she says "I never thought you'd actually care about someone."

Alice shouts "and what is THAT suppose to mean!?"

Marisa chuckles but doesn't answer, and to distract Alice, she points in front and says "look! The shrine's over there."

Alice looks ahead as Marisa continues "might as well say hi again, ze."

Alice stares back at Marisa a little curiously, but ignores her and looks forward again, then comments "hey, is that the shrine's maid? She looks so different now!"

With a smile, Marisa asks "you can tell from over here?"

-

At the Hakurei Shrine, even though she's blind, Rika has proven to be able to take care of the chores without a single problem... maybe except for picking the wrong bags of garbage, or picking a mop instead of a broom.

At the shrine's grounds, while Reimu takes care of the food inside, Rika sweeps the snow outside, revealing the path hidden underneath.

From the bushes, a shadow lurks, looming around Rika, making no sound as it moves around.

It's Kogasa Tatara, and thanks to Aya's quick report (blabber mouthing), she knows about Rika's blindness.

Hiding under the bushes, she says to herself "there she is, Karakasa. The blind girl. Surprising her will be EASY. Heh! She'll never see us coming."

The eye on her umbrella looks down to her, showing it's glee as they slowly make their way to Rika.

She crawls through the snow, making light crunching sounds, then positions herself behind a tree.

Rika starts to hum to herself while sweeping, which makes Kogasa hold her mouth as she giggles quietly, then whispers "she's humming now! This is going to be so easy... Ready Karakasa?"

The umbrella blinks once, then Kogasa nods, looking back to Rika with a determined face, then counts "1... 2..."

She flies away from the tree and approaches Rika, shouting "BERO-BERO-BA-AAH~~!"

Instinctively and effortlessly, Rika grabs Kogasa's long sleeve and sends her flying to the shrine's stairs, where she opens her karakasa and slowly drifts down the stairs, sobbing and saying "that's impossible! How did she see us!?"

The karakasa youkai drifts quietly the rest of the way down.

Back at the shrine's ground, Rika's face shows confusion as she holds her position after tossing Kogasa like that, then as she composes herself she asks "what just happen?"

Marisa and Alice land next to Rika, Marisa shouting "oy~, Rika! I'm back, ze! Where's Reimu!?"

Rika gets startled for a moment, but composes herself again, bows and says "welcome back miss Marisa... and guest."

Alice looks at Marisa suspiciously and whispers "I thought you said she was blind."

Marisa just smirks then Rika answers "I am blind. I just smelled your perfume, miss..."

Alice immediately twitches, then says "it's me. Alice! Um, I don't mean to be rude, but I really need to see Reimu!"

Rika nods and says "please, don't mind me. Miss Reimu is inside. Please take your shoes off before you enter."

Alice sweats a little and says "yes, yes. Th-thank you."

While Alice heads to the shrine, Marisa approaches Rika and says "you're holding the broom upside-down."

Rika yelps and twirls the broom on her hand, and feeling a little ashamed the rubs the back of her head and says "heh heh... thanks."

Marisa heads straight to the shrine now and climbs the porch, where Alice's boots are.

Inside she sees Alice has placed the weakened dolls on the table while she explains her situation to Reimu, who says "they won't die, so don't worry... I'll place these charms on them for protection, though."

Reimu goes to a small cabinet and rummages inside, revealing the golden whistle in it. Marisa spots it and thinks "there it is! So, she doesn't keep it with her at all times after all. This could make things a little easier."

Marisa takes one step inside the shrine and in that instant, Rika appears right next to her and bashes her head with her broom, puffing her cheeks and angrily saying "didn't I ask you to take your shoes off?"

Before falling on the floor, Marisa grunts "s...sorry."

-

High above the clouds in Heaven, Tenshi Hinanai walks around with a bored expression on her face, letting her heard and arms hang limp in front of herself.

Iku Nagae, who's casually passing by, can't help but notice and worry.

Standing in front of her and making her stop, Iku concernedly asks "miss eldest daughter, are you alright? You look so sad today."

Tenshi raises her head, revealing an expression of undeniable boredom in her face, and seemingly uncaring she says "meh, I 'unno. I'm just bored. Heaven is such a boring place. Nothing ever happens here... Iku, make something happen!"

Iku backs away, a sweat drop hanging on the side of her hat as she places one arm on her chest and replies "er, no, I don't think I can do anything to cause excitement around here."

She runs away from Tenshi and kneel beside a peach tree and whispers to herself "besides, if I do something, I might get in trouble."

Iku composes herself again and rushes straight back to Tenshi, who asks "who were you talking to back there...?"

Iku sweats and says "err... I didn't say anything."

Tenshi's eyes hide under her hat as she places a hand right above the left side of Iku's chest, and with a terrifying ominous voice she says "Nagae~... I feel something coming from the Hakurei Shrine..."

Iku stares frightened at Tenshi for a moment, but before she can comment Tenshi clenches her teeth, and speaking through them she says "I feel disgusted! Iku... IKU! Can't you feel that disgusting presence?"

Iku shivers as Tenshi's hand rises to her shoulder and grips tightly, then says "m-miss Tenshi, you're hurting me!"

Tenshi loosens her grip, and while a very dark shadow covers her eyes, one small white circle, accompanied by a jagged crescent smile, she stares straight at Iku then says "I am going to the shrine. Come with me if you like!"

Iku is afraid to say no, even though she really doesn't want to be near Tenshi at all, but she thinks denying her now would be far worse, so she reluctantly bows, then follows after Tenshi after she quickly flies down to Gensokyo.

-

At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu has helped Shanghai and Hourai recover, and while Rika holds them both to her chest, saying "you poor dears, there's nothing to worry about. You're mama will protect you, and we'll protect your mama.", Reimu is instructing Alice on how to place each charm around her house to keep Yuyuko away.

Marisa, who had her shoes forcefully taken off, stares as the two little dolls sob on Rika's chest, while Rika brushes their hair with her hands, and with disgust in her face she says to herself "this is getting too mushy. I'm out of here."

It takes her some time to put her winter boots on, and after finally putting them on she summons her broom and says "see you later, ze!"

She sits on her broom and flies away, only to get knocked off the air by Tenshi, who accidentally knocks her broom right from underneath her as she lands.

Tenshi manages to catch Marisa before she falls to the snow, and with a smile on her face, she says "please, stay a little longer."

From inside the shrine Reimu asks "what do you want, you annoying celestial?"

Tenshi doesn't respond as she looks around, then spots Rika holding the two dolls, also noticing a faint glow on her arms.

She tosses Marisa to the side and storms inside, but the second Rika feels those boots touch the floor she stands up and in a commanding tone she says "please, take your shoes off before entering!"

Tenshi stops and sits on the porch, grumbling as she takes off her shoes, then stops and realizes what she's doing.

She stands up and storms inside, and giving Rika no chance she pushes her hard, making her tumble all the way to the broom closet.

From outside, Marisa looks in shock, and Iku just arrives, asking "is miss Tenshi here already?"

Marisa points inside. Alice gasps and shouts "Shanghai! Hourai! Miss Rika!"

Holding a pack of amulets on her left hand and her gohei on her right, Reimu rushes in front on Tenshi and grunts "you just made the WRONG move!"

Before Reimu attacks Rika shouts "no, wait! Miss Reimu, it's ok! We're fine!"

Rika holds the dolls tightly on her chest, making sure they aren't hurt by softly asking "are you two alright?"

The dolls nod, then Rika smiles, but her smile quickly turns to a frown as she gets up and faces Tenshi, saying "you must be... Tenshi Hinanai, right?"

Pulling her sword out of its sheath, Tenshi defiantly points it at Rika and says "you scum! I knew there was something about you... Never thought it would be this."

Hourai exclaims "you big bully! You leave her alone!"

Shanghai quietly flies away from Rika's hand and toward Tenshi, then stares for a moment.

She lifts her little left arm as if ready to slap Tenshi across the face, then Reimu's and Alice's faces contort with a mixture of terror disgust as the sound of fast and continuous smacking, crunching and Tenshi's horrible screams of agonizing pain echo through the shrine.

By now, Aya is watching everything from the trees outside, Suika glares from the roof, readying herself to attack if anything happens, and Mima hides underneath the floorboards, crescent staff at hand and ready.

Marisa is about to pull her Hakkero, but Iku holds her hand and bows with a sad expression on her face.

Back inside, Tenshi is hog-tied with her arms and legs stretching behind her back.

She jumps on her stomach toward Rika and says "no matter how many you send to assassinate me, I'm still coming for you, and I WILL kill you!"

Rika turns her face down and doesn't respond, however, Reimu's had enough and rushes straight to Tenshi, and using her gohei like a golf-club, she strikes Tenshi's face and sends her flying right out of the shrine against the trees.

Somehow, Tenshi is no longer hog-tied, but she is in a little pain.

She looks toward the shrine as she stands up and looks at Reimu, whose eyes are surrounded by an ominous shadow as she glares furiously back.

Tenshi smiles and sweats a little and speaks "this doesn't concern you Haku-"

"you get the HELL out of here before I really get mad.", interrupts Reimu, with a most furious and ominous tone of voice.

Tenshi smiles and says "Reimu, you are defending a despicable spawn from the deepest bowels of the netherworld. Her KIND seems nice, but they are truly demons in disguise! Before you know it, she'll be ripping your eyes out and dancing on your graves!"

Reimu's body starts to shake as she clenches her teeth and her arm, seemingly on its own, reaches for the ribbon on her head.

Marisa notices this and with incredible fear in her face the thinks "she's going for her ribbon... this is not good! The beating Sukima took will be nothing compared to was this stupid celestial is about to get."

From inside the shrine Rika's voice calms Reimu down as she says "I thought that by now the Hinanai might be a little more enlightened, but I see you are as narrow-minded as ever... What makes you think you are better than me in the first place!? What makes you think I am going to hurt those whom I love, and love me back!?"

Shanghai and Hourai hover above Rika's shoulders holding a sword each.

Alice has surrounded herself with many dolls, all bearing lances, Suika glares down from the roof, and from above Tenshi on the trees, Aya holds her fan, ready to attack.

Just beside Reimu is Mima, powering her staff with yellow energy, and Reimu, who retreats her hand from her ribbon, but holds her gohei with both hands now.

Tenshi knows she can't win, but hides her fear by sounding confident as she smiles and says "you are all being deceived by this demon in angel's clothes! Let me free you from her! I, and only I can kill this being!"

Iku continues to get in Marisa's way as she stares worriedly at Tenshi, thinking she's going to get herself killed ten times over before it's all over.

Rika walks outside, almost falling when she climbs down the porch, but manages to stand firmly next to Reimu, and while facing Tenshi, she says "if you want to fight me so badly, then you give me no choice but to accept your challenge. However, this is Gensokyo, so we'll use our spell cards and nobody kills nobody."

Tenshi smiles widely, then starts to laugh harder and harder, until it turns into an insane cackle, then just stops.

She continues to smile widely as she says "Bhava-Agra, in heaven, 4 weeks from now! 5 spell cards! If I win, you will leave these lands and rot in whatever hovel you came from!"

Rika feels aggravated by Tenshi's words, but she controls herself and says "fine! If I win, you have to accept that I am just like everyone else, and to respect me as an equal!"

Tenshi smiles with great confidence and says "fine, whatever. Just pack your bags before the fight. You'll be leaving as soon as it is over."

With that, Tenshi flies away back to Heaven.

Iku stays behind and just watches worriedly toward Tenshi, while everyone else stares back at her.

-

A little while later, tension is still high in the shrine.

Suika is still a bit on edge, and after taking a big gulp of sake from her gourd she angrily says "that sobered me up...!"

Mima floats next to her, crossing her arms in front of her chest, then says "at least she's gone. Let's be thankful of that."

From the doorway, Aya comments "aren't you two forgetting something?", and points at Iku, who sits next to the kotatsu while Reimu continues to stare at her.

Angrily, Reimu kneels, bangs hard on the table with her hands and shouts "tell me already! What the hell is the matter with that celestial this time?"

Iku winces, covering her head from Reimu with one arm, then says "I really don't know myself. She was bored one minute, then the next she acting all weird and rushing all the way down here."

Reimu stands up, then turns to Rika, who is sitting next to Iku, and shouts "and you should have kept your mouth shut! Tenshi is too powerful, and I doubt she'll exercise mercy... She wants to kill you Rika!"

Rika springs to her feet and bravely raising her fist she shouts back "I couldn't just let her get away with that!"

Unknown to her, she's facing Iku while she says that, so the dragon youkai turns her to face Reimu, and after a quick "thanks" she continues "my lady, the Hinanai have always looked down on my family, all because of our blood."

Sighing with despair and sounding frightened, Reimu replies "Rika, you can't even see. How are you going to beat her like that!?"

This fact hits Rika hard and very suddenly, so she's only able to stutter a few words before sitting down next to the table, then whispering "I.. don't know."

Reimu sighs loudly again, then drops on her knees on front of the table, saying "see? Look, just say the word and I'll call this whole thing off."

Inside her mind Rika battles with herself. One side of her heart is telling her "Rika, don't give up! Besides, this blindness is temporary, and that fight is in 4 weeks! You can do it."

The other side says "don't do it! You may not see it, but you KNOW Reimu is worried about you. Don't do this, set her mind at ease... Besides, what would VIVIT say to all of this?"

Shanghai comes from outside, followed shortly by Hourai and both float right in front of Rika's face.

Their presence brings Rika back from her mind, then Shanghai says "miss Rika, thank you for protecting us."

Hourai adds "mama is very grateful too. And you know, I am impressed. You are blind, but you still protected us."

Shanghai covers Hourai's mouth then whispers "Hourai, don't say it like that!"

Rika raises her head, and with a determined tone of voice she says "the battle is in 4 weeks, and this blindness of mine is only temporary, miss Reimu."

Reimu gets surprised and asks "what? Rika, how can you be sure?"

Rika continues "that girl will learn humility by my hand, my lady! I promise you that."

Reimu stares at Rika with her mouth open, wanting to say something to her, however she decides to keep quiet.

Tension is too high, and she believes it's keeping Rika from seeing thins rationally.

Meanwhile, Marisa sits by the donation box, thinking "what the hell is going on here? This 'paradise' is going to drive her mad! Dammit, I have to work faster... but that gate won't be ready for a month. Reimu..."

Alice approaches Marisa, then asks "what's wrong?"

Marisa snaps out of her thoughts, then says to Alice "ah, it's nothing... I just need some rest."

Alice smiles and says "well, I'm ready to go home, so I'll accompany you part of the way, ok?"

Marisa pulls a smile, summons her broom, then lifts to the air alongside Alice, Shanghai and Hourai.

After they reach the Forest of Magic, they split up, saying some quick goodbyes.

Marisa reaches her house, makes some dinner, and prepares herself for a nice bath, and while she's relaxing inside the water, she gasps, opening her mouth and eyes widely, then shouts "CRAP, I FORGOT THE WHISTLE!!!"

-

One week later, at the Moriya Shrine.

By the gates of the shrine, two figures can be seen jumping all around.

Though the snow has just begun to melt, making the footing a lot harder, these two figures move about as if nothing is holding them back.

Upon a closer look Kyo can be seen, shouting "you call that an attack!? My GRANDMOTHER hits harder!"

Using her claws to cling on to a tree, Budou shouts back "I'm just being merciful!"

Kyo immediately gets mad and angrily shouts "Your enemy will NOT show Mercy! Don't show any mercy yourself!!!"

He shoots medium-size fireballs at her from his sword, then tosses his shield to the left.

Budou jumps to the sky to avoid both attacks, then shrieks at Kyo, sending wide waves of sound toward him.

From her right, Orin suddenly materializes and shoots a single blue orb at Budou, who uses her right wing as a shield and sends it straight back, making Orin fly away.

From her left, Suwako takes off her hat, and from inside large water bubbles jump out and head straight to the little bat, who takes a dive straight at Kyo.

Kyo expects a frontal attack and prepares to counter it, but Budou takes a sudden incline, falling on the ground and sliding under Kyo, and while underneath him she pulls out her spell card and shouts "Wave Sign Shapeless Mind!"

Kyo yelps and panics as blue colored beams take the shape of a giant hand that grabs him and tosses him straight at Suwako, who shrieks and waves her arms and legs, forgetting to move away, and as they fly to the lake, they intercept Orin, then all three fall straight to the lake.

Budou gasps and flies after them, and after they pop their heads out of the freezing lake, she starts to cry and shouts "I'm sorry~~!", while Phredia flies from under her hair, smiling and trying to cheer Budou up.

Kanako sits by the donation box, staring at them with a bored expression, and beside her is Koishi, who says "look, she beat them again. And she's crying again too."

Kanako looks at Koishi, but says nothing, then from inside the shrine, Aya sprints away leaving a white trail behind, then Sanae shouts "hey everyone! There's a party at the Hakurei shrine! And we're invited!"

From inside, Luna shouts "Great! Kyo~! Let's go home and get ready!"

From inside, Medicine adds "GREAT, I can show off my new dress."

Outside, by the donation box, Kanako looks to the gate, and with a bored expression and resting her chin on the back of her hand, she says "it's too busy here."

-

That night, at Ayalina's house in the outside world.

Ayalina just arrives back to her home after driving all over, looking for Ail.

When she arrives, her husband, an old plump, bald man with a little white hair on the sides of his head, sporting a thick white moustache and wearing a blue plaid shirt and black pants approaches her and worriedly asks "did you find him honey?"

Ayalina sighs, letting her head sadly drop as she says "no... I searched everywhere... I even risked flying when no one was looking."

Her husband sighs and says "I'm sorry I didn't believe you before, honey! I just... I mean, how could I believe all of that?"

Ayalina smiles, though showing exhaustion on her face, then says "it's alright darling. The important thing is you believe now! And besides, that's not important now."

In the living room, in front of the television is a girl a little shorter than Ayalina, who has her same hairstyle, though hers is black, like her father's used to be, and is longer than her mother's, and has maroon eyes as well.

She is wearing a white shirt under a small pink jacket and a pair of short blue jeans.

The girl suddenly shouts with excitement "mom, dad! Ail's on TV!"

Both Ayalina and her husband exclaim at the same time "WHAT!?" then rush to the TV.

The female reporter on the news says "...and so, the police have the alleged 'magician' surrounded. Remember, this is the boy who used those alleged 'magic tricks', which turned out to be dangerous experimental special effects, and injured a few dozen people, including 5 children, in the restaurant he was working in."

She turns to a portly man on a white suit that's sitting next to her and asks "now, you are a special effects technician, correct?"

The man nods and says "correct. This young man seems wanted to play some prank that went wrong long before he started. You see the..."

The woman stops the man and listens to a headset on her left ear, then says "this just in, the boy seems to have tried to use the SAME special effects and got shot by the police, yet he somehow got away. We got exclusive footage, here on News 9!"

The scene changes to a large courtyard with a large statue on the center of it.

Countless police cars surround the area and one of them shouts "we got you surrounded. Put your hands in the air and drop to the ground."

Ail's blurry image can be seen next to the statue, nervously looking for a way out.

There is a strange sound, like the ones from Yukari's gaps opening, then gunfire.

There is another gap sound, then the police saying "where'd he go?"

Another man shouts "SEARCH THE AREA! He can't be far!"

Ayalina screams then says "they're shooting at my son!!!"

She runs to the door or her house, even though her husband is shouting "Lina, WAIT! Ayalina, wait for me!!!"

When she opens the door, various police officers have her house surrounded, and three of them, dressed in suits and showing off their badges stand near her door.

The big-looking one in the middle says "you are all under house arrest."

From a distance, Ayalina's voice can be heard as she shouts "no! My boy! What have you done to my boy!!?"

-

At the Hakurei Shrine, the "Rika Welcoming Party" is quite lively.

Orin, Parsee, Yuugi and Satori enjoy a dip in the hot springs, away from the multitude.

By the right side of the gate, Reisen, Tewi and Eirin enjoy themselves, having very light snowball fights occasionally.

On the left side of the shrine are Medicine, Hina, Budou and Chen, while at the back of the shrine are Marisa, Alice, Shanghai, Hourai, Yuki, who is actually uninvited, and Mima.

Even though it's still cold, the guests all seem to be enjoying themselves.

Inside, Kanako and Suwako stare at Rika, seemingly surprised by her appearance, while Sanae helps her and Reimu tend to the other guests.

Rika looks a little sad and says "please, miss Sanae. You are a guest. You don't have to do this."

Sanae smiles and waves her hand, saying "nonsense! I'm glad to help! Besides, I can't just let you do everything by yourself, right?"

Reimu places a third plate of freshly baked peach pie on the table, then smiles and says "Rika, don't be rude. Be thankful Sanae is helping out."

Rika sighs in defeat and says "you're right... I'm sorry miss Sanae. I truly appreciate your help."

Sanae covers her mouth with her fingers as she giggles, then says "anytime."

Sanae turns around and notices the two goddesses sitting under the kotatsu now, but still staring at Rika.

Sanae quietly signals both to stop staring, and reluctantly they do.

Kanako whispers "oy~ Suwako. Do you notice something oddly familiar about Rika?"

Suwako whispers back "yeah, but I can't quite put my finger on it."

Between them, on the other side of the table, smiling and sticking out her tongue, Koishi says "that's because I tied a red string on them."

Kanako and Suwako both twitch and look at each other in shock, and when they try to pull apart, all the manage to do is pull on each others' pinkies.

Koishi giggles and says "another happy couple!", then stands up and skips back outside.

Outside, Kyo is boasting about how he's defeated many wild youkai, while Luna stares at him contempt, thinking "he's like a brat with his new toy, geez."

Suddenly, her expression changes to a mischievous smile, then she wraps her arm around Kyo's neck and in a soft and seductive voice she says "Kyo~. Why don't we go to the house and work on that family, huh?"

Kyo freezes, his entire body turns to stone, and while Marisa, Yuki and Mima laugh at his expense, Luna looks annoyed away from him and disappointedly says "my man..."

At the hot springs Orin says "ahh, these waters are so nice, nya~!"

Yuugi smiles and says "yup! Nothing like a nice warm soak, ain't it!"

Satori just shrugs, then Parsee glares at her and says "don't just shrug us off like that! Smile already, geez!"

From above Yamame hangs down from one of her silk threads, looking annoyed and angrily saying "honestly, you all go to the parties and never let me or Kisume in."

Satori stares back with an uninterested expression and calmly says "what are you talking about? She's right there."

Kisume sits between Orin and Yuugi, looking very content and hiding most of her body underwater while her bucket lies just next to her, outside the water.

Yamame shrieks, then says "Kisume, you little traitor!"

Kisume replies "aww, pipe down and join in already."

Yamame smiles and says "good idea."

Now inside the water while her clothes hang by her thread, Yamame looks content while she soaks, but then looks at Satori, then asks "hey, where's your other pet? Utsuho?"

Satori calmly replies "she refused to leave petal behind."

At the Palace of the Earth Spirits, Okuu and Petal, the little hell raven with the white zigzagging stripe around her neck, fly all around the inside of the palace, flowers and grass growing everywhere Petal pecks, and Okuu smiling and saying "that's my little girl! Let's do Koishi-san's room next!"

-

Back at the Hakurei Shrine, inside the shrine, Reimu and Sanae are eating a piece of pie each, and in the kitchen, Rika is enjoying hers so much, little hearts pop out of her head and hover around her as she unwillingly flaps her little wings and says with a smile "MMM~ It's even tastier than I remember~!"

Sanae comments "it's a peaceful night, don't you think?"

Reimu nods as she takes a bite out of her piece of pie, then Sanae sweats and adds "you know something is going to happen, right?"

Reimu chews on her pie and simply shrugs, and as if waiting for her queue, Remilia and Sakuya fly straight inside to the shrine, Sakuya bowing and saying "please, excuse our tardiness."

Remilia laughs and says "Sakuya, it's fashionably late. Patchy says it's the best way to make a party entrance."

Sakuya bows and says "I'm terribly sorry, my lady."

Rika approaches Remilia and Sakuya, bows elegantly, then says "welcome to the Hakurei Shrine miss Remilia and miss Sakuya. Party favors are on the kitchen table, please help yourselves, and if you need anything, just ask... I'll be tending to the other guests now, so please excuse me."

Sakuya stares in surprise and asks "is that Rika?"

Sanae giggles and says "yes, that's her alright."

Sakuya looks surprised and says "she's so adequate now. Wouldn't you agree, my lady?"

Remilia looks uninterested as she waves her hand at Sakuya and says "yeah, yeah... I'll go mingle with the others for a bit..."

Remilia exits the shrine, and Reimu, who is now holding a teacup casually says "here it comes" and takes a sip of her tea.

Remilia approaches Kyo and Luna, waves her hand at them and says "hi everyone, Remilia has arrived, so now the party can start."

A golden washtub falls on Kyo's head, and instinctively, Luna kicks it away when it bounces to her, sending it straight to Remilia, who punches it upward and shouts "what you do that for!?"

The washtub falls on Chen's left tail, making her scream, which summons Ran out of nowhere, screaming "CHEN~~~!" and accidentally knocking Budou's head.

Budou lets out a shriek that heads straight to the washtub, and with the vibrations of the sound waves, the washtub flings to the shrine's gate, bouncing off one of the large red logs and on to Reisen's head, making her flip and activate her powers wildly, causing Tewi to try and help Reisen, however gets caught on Reisen's waves.

She gets dizzy and before Eirin can reach her, Tewi accidentally kicks the washtub on Eirin's face, making it bounce off toward the spring's entrance, where Satori just got out and gets knocked on the head, making it bounce upward.

Orin rushes to Satori and worriedly asks "Satori-sama! Are you alright!?"

Parsee spots the washtub in the air and runs away from it, shouting "NO WAY I'm falling for that!"

Yamame walks out of the spring's gate and asks "what's going on?" and gets knocked on the head with the washtub, causing her to release her miasma, making Kisume sick, just as she exits the springs, knocking out Orin, and making Yuugi feel dizzy enough to sit on the ground.

In the center of it all stands Rika, who asks "what's going on around here?"

Parsee stands a few feet away from Rika and shouts "it's such a mess... I should be causing it!"

The washtub flies from the springs and makes its way to Hina, who turns around a little too late and gets struck by it on the side, making her spin out of control and spewing out curses all over.

Her spinning hand strikes Medicine, sending her flying straight to Rika, but the blind maid senses this and jumps out of the way to the right, just as Medicine flies by, headed straight toward Remilia and spewing poison everywhere.

Remilia screams her head off as the poison surrounds her, then runs straight to Kyo and Luna, who try to run away, but Remilia easily tackle them toward Mima and Alice.

Shanghai gets mad, and so does Hourai, but Remilia runs blindly at them and knocks them apart, Shanghai knocking Marisa down, while Hourai knocks Yuki, who in turn knocks Mima down one more time.

-

Standing in the middle of the entire mess are Rika and Parsee, who stands a few feet away from Rika.

Rika shouts "my lady! Something happened here!"

Casually, from inside the shirne, Reimu replies "yeah, yeah. Just let it go."

Parsee approaches Rika, about to say something, but one of Budou's sound waves reach her from behind, startling her and making her fire her beams of jealousy all around, sending one straight to Rika.

The maid ducks just before the beams hits her and asks "what was THAT!?"

The beam heads straight to the blinded Remilia and hits the gem on her chest, bouncing off it and heading back to Rika, hitting its target this time.

Rika yelps, startled by the beam, then suddenly her wings grow the same size of her own body, and a belt appears around her waist, carrying her family sword... however the Japanese sword looks different.

The hilt is red and on its tip it has a diamond with the kanji for "bond" in it, and within the jewel itself, it looks like it has its own ocean inside.

Rika instinctively pulls out the sword, revealing it's sky-blue color on its unsharpened edge, then she points it at Parsee, who watches in horror as she stands paralyzed from Budou's shriek.

Rika says "nullify" and a light-blue beam shoots from the sword and heads straight to Parsee, surrounding her entire body.

The cloth on Rika's eyes drops, revealing brighter light-blue eyes with hints of clouds coursing through them.

She takes a look at Parsee, just as she recovers from her paralysis and shouts "hey, what the meaning of this-KYAAAAH~!"

Rika sheathes her sword just as Parsee falls to the ground, then looks around, realizing what's happened, then asks "oh dear... what happened here?"

She looks around, noticing all the knocked out guests, then suddenly realizes it and shouts "wait.. I can see!? I can SEE~!!!"

She turns to the shrine and shouts "My lady, I can see again! Look, look, I can see!"

From the shrine comes Reimu, Sanae, Sakuya and Koishi, then Rika rushes to her mistress, happily flapping her wings, hopping around and shouting "my lady I can see again!"

Reimu exclaims "really!? It's a miracle!"

Rika, Reimu and Sanae hop in place, squealing happily, Rika flapping her wings while doing so.

Sakuya looks away, smiling sheepishly and saying "so much for elegance."

Rika gasps and covers her mouth with her hands, then bows to Sakuya and says "I'm so sorry~! I just got overexcited."

Sakuya peeks through her right eye, then turns to Rika and smiles while rubbing Rika's hair and says "it's alright. It happens to the best of us."

-

Koishi heads toward Parsee while the other 4 girls celebrate Rika's recovery.

She kneels next to the fallen youkai and while helping her up she asks "are you alright?"

Parsee stares at Koishi, then smiles and says "you are such a kind-hearted person. So sweet and cute. Thank you."

Koishi blushes and places her hands on her cheeks, giggling with glee, then Parsee looks behind and sees the other underground dwellers knocked on the ground, then rushes to them.

Immediately she helps Satori up and says "oh my, miss Satori, are you alright? We can't have you ruin that precious hair of yours on the snow."

Satori asks "err, are you ok?"

Parsee ignores Satori and rushes to Yuugi, then says "oh my, such a powerful gas. It even knocked someone as strong as you down, but please, don't blame Yamame as she is too kind and accidents do happen."

Yuugi stares at Satori with an annoyed expression, and while pointing at Parsee she says "this girl is annoying."

Parsee ignores Yuugi and skips away, spinning in place after stopping, then shouts "everything is so BEATUFUL!"

Meanwhile, inside the shrine, Kanako and Suwako stare angrily at Rika.

Suwako says "she's one of the Onkamiyamukais" while at the same time Kanako says "she's one of the Kurashikamis."

Both goddesses stare at each other, then nod and stare back at Rika while saying at the same time "those Onkamikami traitors."

Outside, ignoring the fallen guests, Reimu asks "Rika, what exactly did you just do to Parsee?"

Rika stares at her mistress with an innocent smile, then says "I got jealous of her powers, so I nullified them."

Large sweat drops fall from the back of Reimu, Sanae and Sakuya's head as they stare awestruck at Rika's bluntly honest answer.

-

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Kyo, Budou, Phredia, and Luna were created by Willie G.R.

"Wave Sign Shapeless Mind" spell card was created by Willie G.R. Any similarities are strictly coincidental.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot2010

FEB 28 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.


	3. Chapter 3

It's been one week since Rika's welcoming party.

At the underground, Parsee is locked up inside her house, still embarrassed of her behavior during the party.

Banging hard on the door is Yuugi, shouting "come on already! You have a job to do, remember!?"

From inside Parsee replies "leave me alone! I'm NEVER coming out!"

Yuugi shouts "it's been a week already! How long are you going to be like this!?"

Parsee shouts "I called that maid a 'beauty' when I was supposed to be JEALOUS of that!"

Yuugi sighs, places her back against the door and slides down to sit on the ground and says "fine, suit yourself. I guess you can just be jealous of those dust-bunnies under your mat from now on... You won't be able to be properly jealous of that human that is crossing your bridge right now."

The second she finishes her sentence, Parsee opens her door, sending Yuugi flying all the way back to the streets of Former Hell, and with a look of despair on her face, Parsee gasps and looks toward her bridge, shouting "how dare that human be so bold and brave! I'm gonna be so jealous when I see him!!! Huh?"

Parsee immediately calms down when she sees a 3 day old newspaper lying on her doormat, ignoring Kyo, who continues to boldly cross that bridge, seemingly for no apparent reason.

Parsee reads the front page of that paper, then suddenly gasps, her eyes hiding under a light shadow as her mouth stays open wide, and slowly her entire body turns to stone and cracks.

Parsee enters her house again so fast, she leaves an after-image of herself in shock, then the her scream echoes from inside her house and all the way back to Satori's mansion.

Yuugi walks back to Parsee's house and looks at the paper with a black and white picture of Parsee playing with Satori's hair, making two side-pony tails on her.

Yuugi's mouth wriggles, then she face palms hard, saying "I forgot the papers."

Parsee screams again after Yuugi mentions the paper, then Kyo approaches Yuugi, saying "well, I did my part, so I expect to be paid what was agreed upon."

Looking defeated, Yuugi says "oni never lie. Here you go."

She hands Kyo a large jar of strawberry jam, and with a glint on his eyes he smiles and says "that's the good stuff. Err... sorry your plan didn't work."

Yuugi sighs and says "it's fine. Enjoy. You earned it."

Outside the cave, Kyo takes a handful of jam from the jar, somehow managing to close the jar with the same hand he is holding it with, then stuffs his face, groaning contently as he chews.

A small sparrow swoops down and takes the jar away from Kyo's hands without him noticing until he was already far away.

Angrily waving his arm Kyo shouts "HEY~! That's mine, you undersized pillow stuffer!!!"

Hanging upside-down on a tree in front of the entrance is Luna, letting her hair and dress hang down with her, showing her tight white pants while casually staring back at Kyo.

In a sweet, yet ominous voice, she asks "and what would that have been I wonder..?"

Kyo sweats coldly when he turns to face Luna, but by the time he turns around she's already right next to him, poking his lips with her finger, then tasting it.

She grabs him by the neck, and with a smile on her face she says "my, my, my, you were having strawberry jam without me? Oh~ you know how much I love strawberry jam, right?" Kyo nods while shaking uncontrollably.

Speaking seductively, Luna says "you do know what this means, right?"

Kyo gulps, and within seconds he finds himself running through the trees and bushes, screaming like a girl and begging for mercy, while Luna slashes away with her gun-blades, shooting her knife danmaku bullets whenever she's close enough, and with an ominous smile and glowing eyes she cackles and shouts "come back darling! I just want my SHARE! AHAHAHAHAHA~!"

-

At the Moriya Shrine, Mystia sits on a branch of one of the trees right in front of the shrine's entrance.

She happily hums to herself for some time while seemingly preparing herself for something, then stands up and takes a deep breath.

She starts to sing, when from her left a girl shouts "WAKE UP YOU LAZY SLOBS~!!!", startling Mystia and making her almost fall off the tree.

Mystia manages to keep her footing then glares to her left and while raising her little fist she shouts "who the hell are you, and what's the big idea!?"

Yuki casually says "I'm Yuki..." then stares at Mystia with glinting eyes and drooling while saying "and I've been looking for you~!"

Mystia darts away from the top of the trees, crying "she wants to eat me~!!", and Yuki matches her speed as she chases after her, shouting "WAIT! IT'S JUST WINDY UNDERNEATH!!!"

Inside the shrine, on the ceiling of Sanae's room, sleep Budou and Phredia.

After Yuki's screaming they both wake up, Budou stretching her arms and wings, while Phredia lets herself drop from Budou's hair and stretches after flapping her wings to fly.

Budou quietly drops to the floor and somberly heads to the door, accompanied by Phredia.

Without waking Sanae, she exits and immediately makes her sleepy way to her computer, which is on the Kotatsu at the moment.

She turns it on, and right as it starts up she smiles wickedly, then says "what noobs..."

Meanwhile, in the hidden lab of Rikako Asakura, S-Kyo and Rikako are working many keyboards and buttons, Rikako seriously asking "are you SURE she won't detect us?"

S-Kyo arranges his glasses as he glares back at Rikako and says "of course I'm sure. Last time I just made a mistake. This time there is no way she'll..."

The largest monitor in the center of the room turns on by itself, and there the image of the smiling Budou and Phredia is displayed while she says "well, good morning. I was starting to wonder if you guys were ever going to try and hack me again. How are you?"

Rikako and S-Kyo stare at the monitor for a moment, then they look at each other, Rikako glaring at him and asking "you were saying?"

From the monitor, Budou looks like the mastermind of an organized crime syndicate, placing both hands under her chin, resting her head on them while Phredia sits on the right armrest, both staring straight to the monitor... however the image is ruined by Budou's long white grape-designs pajamas, and the small golden whistle around her neck in a black necklace.

Budou smiles wickedly and says "if you can tell me a good reason NOT to totally destroy your equipment with my personal favorite, miss Yuka virus, I MIGHT reconsider."

S-Kyo trembles, but Rikako keeps herself steeled.

She looks back at Budou and the 16-bit image of Yuka pointing her umbrella at her, then says "just..." Her voice squeaks, so she gulps and tries again.

"We just wanted to leave you something without actually letting you know it was us... but since you managed to catch us..."

Rikako glares at S-Kyo after saying this, then turns to face Budou again and continues "might as well send this your way, formally."

The image of a grey bar being filled by a pink bar is displayed on the monitor, and just before the upload finished, and quite quickly too, Budou seriously says "this better not be a joke, or I'll send THESE to the tengu."

Displayed on the monitor is the picture of two men in red trunks at the beach, holding hands while licking large red lollipops, their heads replaced by Rikako's and S-Kyo's.

The shaggy Kyo sweats, but Rikako keeps her composure and says "just read that."

Back inside the Moriya Shrine, the monitor's light reflects on Budou's face as she reads the documents.

Budou suddenly stops reading and gasps.

Phredia looks worried as Budou suddenly whispers "papa?" Phredia reads as quickly as possible, then covers her open mouth with both hands.

All around the shrine grounds Budou's voice echoes as she screams "PAPA~~!"

-

At the Hakurei Shrine, Mystia and Yuki sit on the shrine's roof, both wearing each others' outfits, and fitting in them quite comfortably, though for Mystia, Yuki's skirt is a little too long.

Yuki places her left hand on her chest and tries to sing, however she sings off-key.

Mystia angrily says "no, no! You're doing it wrong!"

Annoyed, Yuki points at Mystia and says "fine. They YOU try."

Mystia defiantly replies "FINE" then stands on the roof's edge, waiting for Mima to get close as she somberly floats to the shrine.

Mystia waits for just the right moment, and just as Mima is about to reach the porch, Mystia unleashes a small orb that releases various multi-colored feathers that float down on to Mima's clothes.

Mima looks at herself and touches one of the cold feathers.

It turns to a sticky liquid, and when she exclaims "eww~! What is this?", all the feathers explode hard, leaving Mima's face and clothes looking singed.

Yuki and Mystia laugh hard on the roof, and Yuki says "not bad for a beginner, hahaha!"

Mystia wipes the tears of laughter from her eyes as she laughs and says "see-he-he! I told you I could do it!"

Yuki's eyes suddenly widen, then flies away, shouting "RUN AWAY~!"

Mystia looks behind her and realizes Mima is breathing steam, then flies away after Yuki, shouting "wait for me you meanie!"

Mima flies after them, shouting "GET BACK HERE! Mima's got a SPANKING for you!"

From below, Rika watches these events, then continues to casually sweep the ground while slowly flapping her wings, sighting and saying to herself "these kids need a better pastime."

-

A few hours later, at the back of the shrine, Rika trains with her sword, and her newfound ability, while Reimu practices with what she learned about barrier manipulation from Rika's scroll, deep in meditation.

Next to her, the usual rectangular wall barrier, blue in color, slowly expands, inflating like a balloon until it becomes a perfect round orb, big enough to have a fully-gown human inside.

Reimu opens her eyes and looks at her barrier, and with a smile on her face she says "after two weeks of meditation, I think I got it now. What do you think, Rika?"

Rika is father away, her wings grown, her eyes brighter with the hints of clouds coursing through, and her family sword, again transformed to its colorful state.

She holds the sword in its sheath, slowly folding her wings behind her while staring straight at the training dummy, and like a quick blur, she moves around the dummy, and right after she stops, her wings spread open, she sheathes her sword and right after it clicks in place the dummy falls to perfect square pieces, then Rika exhales and her wings shrink, her eyes return to their regular light-blue, and her family sword returns to its regular state, looking like a regular sword with a golden hand-guard.

Rika looks to her mistress and after noticing the barrier she smiles and says "you did it, my lady!"

Reimu stands up and dusts herself, saying "and it seems you have improved much in just one week. Three hours in your Soraogan mode. Last week you couldn't last an hour."

Rika sweats and asks "So... Soraogan mode, my lady?"

Reimu giggles and says "well, since your eyes look like the daytime sky, I thought that name would be appropriate. Soraogan? Blue Sky..?"

Rika flaps her small wings while blushing lightly with her angelic smile and saying "it's perfect, my lady!"

Reimu's smile suddenly turns serious as she opens her mouth to speak again, however Sanae's call interrupts her.

Flying fast and out of control Sanae desperately shouts "REIMU~! RIKA~! Have you seen Budou around-KYAH!"

Sanae flies straight inside Reimu's barrier and before she knows it, she's trapped.

From inside her voice sounds a bit muffled as she asks "what in blazes...? Where am I!?"

She strikes the insides with her fists, shouting "get me OUT OF HERE!"

Reimu chuckles while Rika looks on in disbelief, saying "my lady, don't be so mean."

Reimu laughs and says "alright, alright, hahaha. But before I get you out of there... Sanae, could you fire one of your stars for me?"

Sanae shouts "Reimu I really don't have time for this!"

Reimu casually says "if you do it, I'll help you with whatever you need."

Rika is in shock, looking at Reimu from the background, saying "my lady!"

Sanae angrily sighs then says "fine!" She fires a small red star that simply vanishes when it touches the barrier's walls.

Reimu says "still needs some work, but my barriers just became really effective traps.", then chuckles.

Enraged, Sanae shouts "GET ME OUT OF HERE ALREADY!"

-

Inside the shrine, shaking almost as Ayalina was the day she appeared looking for Ail, Sanae says "she started screaming and calling for Ail, then just left. We-we tried to get her back, but she's too fast. Now she's locked up inside Ail's house and somehow activated the magical defenses... ag-against me. I can't get in."

Reimu and Rika stare at Sanae with concern in their eyes, Reimu looking particularly worried, thinking "just like Ayalina... but at least she knows where Budou is. This year's becoming quite active... though not in a very positive way."

Reimu places a hand on Sanae's shoulder, then says "calm down. Rika and I will come with you. Let's get Budou out of there."

Sanae smiles while Rika flaps her small wings contently.

Very suddenly, all three look up and see a shower of small keystones fall from the sky, one headed straight to the shrine's front yard.

As they run to the front yard Reimu comments "geez, that celestial is becoming a pain!"

Rika is the first to approach the small keystone, finding a note tied to its rope.

She unties it and gives it to Reimu, who reads it out loud.

"You are invited to attend to the fight at Bhava-Agra, starring me, the magnificent celestial, Tenshi Hinanai. Watch me as I take out the terrifying demon girl from the dreaded Onkamikami clan, Rika Onkamikami. The fight will be held in two more weeks from today. Please tell your friends."

Written in gold at the lower right edge of the paper is the name "Tenshi Hinanai"

Reimu looks frightfully serious at Rika, then asks "Rika? Are you going?"

Determined, Rika replies "yes, my lady. I have to teach that girl, that clan of hers, how mistaken they are."

Reimu sighs and sounding annoyed she says "fine. Let's just go and get Budou."

Before they set off, Remilia lands in front of them, looking angry as she quickly asks "has anybody seen a little sparrow!?"

Surprised, the three girls shake their heads left and right, then Remilia clenches her teeth and shouts "that stupid bird!"

Just as she sets off again, Sakuya comes from behind, shouting "my lady stop~! You're umbrella!!"

Remilia shouts back "stop holding me BACK!"

Reimu looks up to the sky, her annoyed eyes hiding under a shadow as she comments "it's always something."

-

At the Forest of Magic, inside Ail's house, a constant tweet passes through the walls of the house and echo all over the neighboring area.

Inside the house's storage room, the same room where Ail found Budou, the little bat youkai sobs, sitting on a corner of the room, holding her knees with one arm and using the other to place the golden whistle on her lips, blowing on it and sobbing when nothing happens.

She sobs louder after blowing on it one last time, then grasps it tightly in her little hand and sobs "he didn't come *sob*. He promise he would come..."

Phredia flies from the living room and hurries to Budou when she sees her crying like that.

The moment Phredia hugs Budou's arm, the little youkai closes her wings around them and continues to sob away.

Outside, some voices can be heard.

One says "miss Reimu, this is intense."

Reimu's voice replies "I know. It's going to take time."

Outside, Reimu, Rika and Sanae stand a few feet away from the house, staring at it from a safe distance.

Reimu and Rika can see the intense magical aura that composes the house's magical defenses.

Sanae is too distraught to see it at the moment, and sounding nervous she shouts "what do we do? Why is she hiding there? Budou! Budou, sweetie, are you ok!?" There's no answer.

Sanae tries to get close, shouting "Budou please, answer me!" but a large fireball forms up in just a second and quickly heads straight to Sanae, however she reacts fast enough to defend herself with her gohei, though in her unsettled state, all she managed to do was cut the power of the magic in half.

Reimu pulls the singed Sanae by the back of her shirt and says "let me handle this. Rika, hold Sanae for me."

She tosses Sanae straight to Rika, who locks her arms behind, saying "sorry miss Sanae, but miss Reimu might hurt you by mistake."

At first Sanae struggles to break free, but after Rika speaks to her, she calms down and says "I'm sorry, I'm just so worried."

Reimu flies just above the house, positioning a barrier under her, protecting herself from the moon-beams underneath, while she dodges a shower or black spear danmaku bullets and extra-large fireballs.

She approaches the roof of the house and places one red charm on the left side, flies away, dodging 3 more giant fireballs, then places two green charms on the right side of the roof.

She flies away to the sky, avoiding more moon-beams and black spears, flips her gohei in the air, then claps her hands together while still holding the gohei, then the charms glint, and just like that, the magical defenses stop working.

Landing next to the door, Reimu signals Rika to let Sanae go, then opens the door and says "ladies first."

Sanae rushes inside, calling desperately for Budou while Rika approaches Reimu, and with a smile on her face she says "that was very impressive, my lady."

Reimu flaps her hand in the air, casually saying "yeah, it was nothing. Come on, let's go in."

Rika enters before Reimu, who takes her time before entering, hiding a piece of singed skirt behind herself, whispering "I'm out of practice."

Right after Reimu enters she hears Sanae inside one of the rooms, saying "Budou, please talk to me! What's the matter?"

Reimu and Rika are about to follow in, but blasts come from inside the room and Sanae rushes back to the living room.

Reimu, looking very concerned asks "what happened? Is she alright in there!?"

Sanae shouts toward the room "Phredia, what the hell's wrong with you!?"

Phredia hovers by the archway to the room, looking like a small guard.

Reimu and Sanae stare straight into her eyes... she's letting neither through, no matter what, and to this, Reimu says "so you won't let anyone through?"

Phredia nods, then points at Rika, who points at herself and sounding infinitely confused she asks "ME!? Why me!?"

Phredia closes her little eyes and a blue light surrounds Rika, lifting her from the ground, making her flap her wings on instinct as she hovers unwillingly toward the room.

Once inside, she finds Budou sitting in a corner and covering herself up with her wings, while Phredia keeps an eye on the two maiden outside.

From outside, Reimu comments "it's really dusty in here" then shouts "Rika, try to find out what's going on with Budou."

Sanae adds "please tell her I'm worried about her!"

Rika simply nods, to which Phredia nods at the maidens outside, letting them know Rika acknowledged them.

Slowly, Rika approaches Budou and kneels by her side, gently passing her hand through her wings, asking "little Budou, are you ok?"

Rika feels Budou shake her head, then asks "did someone hurt you?"

Again, she feels when Budou shakes her head again.

Rika sighs and says "you know, if you lock yourself up like this, you're only going to feel sadder, and if you feel even sadder, Sanae will feel even worse. Why don't you open up those wings. Let Sanae in here. She's very worried about you."

For a while there is no response, but after that, Budou slowly opens her wings, revealing her wide open eyes, seemingly in a trance.

Her cheeks are red and her eyes are puffy, tears still coming out of here eyes as she stares blankly at the other side of the room.

Rika wants to gasp, to cry with her, but she knows that'll do no good and simply smiles and says "there you go. Now why don't you tell me what happened? It'll make you feel better."

Budou stares silently at the other side of the room, unblinking and unmoving.

From outside, Reimu closes her eyes for a moment, then says "the village..."

Sanae asks "what about the village?"

As if having a plan of her own, Reimu says to Sanae "I think I know who can help us. Please wait here."

Before she heads out the door she shouts "Rika, I'll be back in a moment. Don't leave her alone."

From inside Rika says "not even if the world crumbles, my lady!"

Reimu nods and with a determined look in her eyes, she sets off to the Human Village.

-

At the Myouren Temple, Nazrin and Ichirin stare at Nue, who lies on the ground with a large bump on her head next to the keystone that fell through the roof.

Nazrin looks seemingly uninterested at Nue, then back at Ichirin, then says "well, I told her to move."

Ichirin looks concerned and shouts "don't just stare! Help me treat that wound!"

While Nazrin slowly kneels down to help, saying "right, right"

Shou enters the room, asking "girl's what's all the racket? You are disturbing lady Hijiri's meditation."

A little agitated, Ichirin says "that rock came flying through the roof and hit poor Nue on the head."

Casually, Nazrin says "I told her to move."

While Shou approaches the small keystone and picks it up, Ichirin angrily says to Nazrin "you know, you could show a little more concern."

Shou finds the note and upon pulling it lose, a few golden coins fall off on to the ground.

The second the golden coins hit the floor Nazrin's eyes glint as she shouts "TREASURE!", then takes a sudden dive to grab the shiny golden coins.

Ichirin stares annoyed and softly grumbles "honestly", while soaking a piece of cotton with alcohol.

Shou reads the letter and says "oh, it seems there's going to be an event at heaven. I'll inform lady Hijiri."

While Shou heads back to the meditation room and Nazrin stares at the golden coins with bright and shiny eyes, Ichirin applies the alcohol on Nue's bump, making it sizzle and causing Nue to jump to her feet, screaming in pain "YAAH~! What the HELL is that!? Acid!?"

Ichirin smiles and casually says "just alcohol."

From inside the meditation room, Ichirin's voice is heard as she says "oh wait, it is acid."

Nue suddenly shouts "WAH~! It burns, it BURNS! Do something!"

Shou sits crossing her legs next to Byakuren, who sits on the floor on a small cushion, crossing her legs under her skirt, her eyes closed, and holding both hands while resting them in front of her abdomen.

Shou closes her eyes to meditate with Byakuren, when her lady asks "you got something for me?"

Shou sweats and says "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."

Byakuren smiles and says "no, no, I heard everything. That racket is really disturbing, so I'm just sitting here for now."

Shou sweats, forcing a confused smile, then hands Byakuren the letter.

After quietly reading it, she looks at Shou with a determined look, though a little sadness in her eyes.

Worried, Shou asks "is something wrong?"

Byakuren says "Shou, we are going, to show our support to that girl."

Shou asks "you mean, miss..."

Byakuren says "exactly! She's going to need a lot of support for this."

Shou smiles and nods, then says "understood."

From outside, Nue shouts "come BACK here and take you medicine!!!"

Ichirin cries "I already said I was sorry~! Waah~! Unzan, help me~!"

There's a moment of silence, then suddenly Nue bursts into the room head-first and slides on the floor all the way in front of Byakuren, the mutters "pain... unfair.. taxing hotcakes with blue icing made of berries..." then falls unconscious.

Byakuren face palms the right side of her face as she sighs, then says "get Mini-chan to fix all this, will you Shou?"

Shou nods, sweating and smiling nervously, then quickly leaves the room.

-

Back at Ail's house, Sanae sits on the living room's couch, holding her head on her arms as she slouches and constantly sighs.

Phredia is still guarding the door and doesn't seem she'll move anytime soon.

Inside the room, Rika gently brushes Budou's head with her hand, speaking in a soft and sweet tone of voice "sweetie, why won't you let Sanae in? You know, she's very worried about you. She even came to us for help because she was so worried."

Budou turns her blank stare at Rika for a second, then continues to stare to the wall across the room, then whispers "papa..."

In her mind, Rika says "he left too suddenly... She's still too young for this.", but she smiles and manages to softly ask "you miss him?"

There is no response; not even a blink.

Rika sighs but then hears Reimu enter the house, saying "everyone, I'm back. I brought some help."

From the living room, Sanae exclaims "Chen, and miss Ran."

Hearing Chen's name make's Budou twitch and turn her eyes toward the door.

Immediately, Phredia and Rika notice this and Rika rushes outside, saying "miss Chen, please."

Both the fairy and the shrine maid looks straight at Chen, who stares back with fright, then sounding a bit more calm Rika says "please, miss Chen, Budou isn't feeling well, but she's not telling us anything. Maybe you can help."

Phredia nods after Rika finishes speaking.

Ran pats Chen's shoulder, then says "I think you are forgetting, Chen is just a child."

Chen quietly pats Ran's hand, turns to face her, then smiles and nods.

Ran lets go of Chen's shoulder, then the nekomata walks straight to Rika and Phredia.

Before entering she notices Budou's eyes, then whispers "umm... could you close the door?"

Phredia and Rika look confused at each other, then back at Chen, but quietly nod and close the door right after Chen enters.

Looking bravely at Budou, Chen immediately asks "what did you find out?"

Budou lifts her blank sight towards Chen for a moment, and before she knows it, Budou is crying loud, clinging on her belly and crying "Chen, he's gone! Papa is gone~! He's not coming back, he's not coming back!"

Chen is shocked. She never expected any of this to happen, however she shakes of the shock, and showing some maturity in her eyes Chen says "you should have told this to miss Sanae."

Budou continues to cry and repeats what she said before, over and over again.

Chen can only stand there and hope her friend calms down soon.

From outside, placing their ears as close as they can to the door, Sanae, Reimu, Rika, Phredia and Ran all listen to what's happening inside.

Sanae sighs and says "it appears... she really misses him. But why isn't she using her whistle?"

Ran sighs loudly and says "they are children, they shouldn't be going through this. Miss Sanae, she's just torn in two right now. She wants him back at all costs, but she feels she would be a burden if she calls him back now. At least... that's what I understand."

Reimu and Rika look at each other, Reimu saying "sounds like that's exactly what's happening."

Rika says "maybe you should call him in her stead."

Ran immediately snaps back "no, don't!"

She gets closer and whispers "if she finds out you did that, she'll think she's causing trouble. Look, let's give her time to recover, let her call him on her own, even."

Sanae, her eyes hidden under a black shadow, stands in between them as they all discuss bout Ail and Budou, however to her she feels like she's in a dark room, alone.

She thinks "in the end I just wasn't good enough. Only Chen managed to get in. I was quickly kicked out like nothing. I'm nothing to her after all..."

Sanae slowly makes her way to the living room, thinking she's unwanted there as she aims for the open door to the outside, however the door to the room suddenly burst open and out comes Budou, her eyes full of tears, and just after Sanae turns around, Budou hug-tackles here to the ground.

On the ground and in surprise Sanae asks "wah? Budou?"

Budou now cries on Sanae's abdomen, but says nothing.

Sanae sits up and immediately holds Budou tightly, resting her head on Budou's whispering "there there. It's alright.", and thinking "she came to me after all... I'm happy. I want to make her happy too... but that is where I fail again."

-

A few hours pass, it's getting dark outside.

Sanae managed to convince Budou to eat a fruit salad specially made by Rika herself, though the little youkai hasn't said another word... until Sanae says "thank you all for your help, especially you, Chen. You're a very brave girl."

Chen puffs her chest and proudly pounds on it, saying "all in a day's work."

Sanae giggles while Ran grabs Chen, hugging her tightly and saying "that's my Chen" while some blood drops down her nose.

Sanae then continues "well, I guess we'll be heading back to the shrine now..."

Budou runs away from Sanae, saying "no! I don't wanna..."

She hides at the end of the large couch and peeks through the edge.

Sanae looks surprised, then asks "Budou, what is it?"

Chen clears her throat and hesitantly says "well... you see... Umm, how do I say this."

Rika twitches and looking to the ceiling with her eyes, as if pondering something, she says "I see. She wants to stay here for a few days, and asked if you could stay with her, right miss Chen?"

She says these last words with an angelic smile while looking at Chen, who looks back quite surprised, then nods.

Ran immediately says "but you two are children! Someone has to say with you to make sure you are well!"

Reimu says "sadly, I can't leave the shrine unattended for so long.", to which Rika immediately adds "I would stay, but someone needs to take care of miss Reimu."

Reimu twitches and mouths "geez, I'm not a child."

Sanae says "I could stay, but just for a few days. And I'd have to tell miss Yasaka and lady Moriya or they might get worried."

From the background Reimu says "don't you mean 'lonely'?"

Ran says "well, if lady Yukari were awake, It'd be no problem, but I have to take care of her while she sleeps."

From behind, Yukari's voice says "then I guess I'll have to wake up early after all."

Ran gasps and looks behind her, exclaiming "lady Yukari!"

Yukari hides her face behind her fan and says "don't worry, I know everything. Guess I'll be staying over as well. Someone needs to take care of Ran."

Ran pouts and thinks "don't you mean you need someone to cook for you?"

Inside her mind Yukari playfully says "I heard that.", while looking playfully at Ran.

Sanae sighs and bows as she says "then I guess it's settled. Miss Yukari, miss Ran, miss Chen, thank you very much for all of this. I'll be sure to repay you for your kindness."

Yukari giggles and smiles as she looks at Chen, who is kneeling next to Budou and pats her head, then says "it's nothing, sweetie. Just make sure to come by often, alright."

She gets closer to the group, away from Chen and Budou, then whispers "she might want to tell you something as soon as she recovers."

Sanae smiles, however there is great sadness in her eyes as she says "I hope so. I truly hope so."

Inside the storage room, Phredia sits on one of the wooden supports of the roof, holding Budou's whistle in her tiny hands and stares at it, as if trying to decipher the reason for its failure, however she blows a puff of air, signaling she can't find any reason.

Meanwhile, while flying back to the shrine, Rika asks Reimu "my lady, why didn't you tell them about Ail's mother?"

Without looking back, with a serious expression on her, Reimu says "Budou is already broken, and Sanae is about to follow. If we tell them now they'll just self-destruct."

Rika looks sadly away, then thinks "this is just terrible. I wish there were something I could do."

Reimu looks to Rika through the corner of her eyes and says "Rika! You can't do anything for them as things are. Right now, though, I want you focused on that battle of yours. It's just two weeks away... Are you sure you don't want me to call it off?"

Rika sighs and says "no, my lady... and you're right. For now I best focus on the battle... but still."

Reimu smiles while flying ahead, keeping quiet the rest of the way.

-

Two weeks later, at the Forest of Magic, hours before Rika and Tenshi's match, Marisa exits her house, stretching and groaning as she does.

She looks at the trees, admiring how the leaves slowly return, signaling spring is soon to come.

She smiles and says "alright! Today's the day I get that whistle, ze!"

With her confident smile she summons her broom to her hand and immediately flies away towards Alice's house, saying "but first to check on miss noisy!"

Arriving to Alice's house, long before landing, Marisa spots Alice and Shinki working on the roof, patching one hole on it, and looking closer she notices there are two more spots that have already been patched.

Shinki is the first to notice Marisa, and waving at her she shouts "miss Marisa, it's been a while! How are you!?"

Marisa waves back and hovers close to the roof now, saying "Alice, Shiki, what's up, ze!?"

She looks at Alice and curiously asks "hey, what was all that racket the other day? I swear, I thought I heard you crying again."

Alice blushes bright red and looks away, saying "I was-wasn't crying..."

Marisa looks at the house with curiosity and asks "then what happened here? Looks like there was a war here. Did Yuyuko finally return?"

Alice growls and says "ugh, not her! This STUPID sparrow made a complete mess around here. That and some ODD events that I can't even explain!"

Shinki smiles and says "like the house falling next to miss Satori's mansion."

Alice looks annoyed when she replies "exactly! How annoying was THAT!"

Marisa stares at both for a moment, then suddenly starts to laugh so hard she almost falls off her broom, then starts to cry.

After calming down and looking at the annoyed faces of Alice and Shinki, she smiles and asks "a little sparrow... and your house falling next to Satori's mansion? You guys are the BEST story-tellers. You should write that down, ze!"

Alice shouts "we're not LYING, you idiot!"

Shinki adds "that little feathered monster spoiled my Alice for marriage, and Alice says it's fine!"

Alice stares in shock and awestruck at Shinki, then her face turns bright red and then shouts "MOM!?! I already TOLD you, he only took my UNDERWEAR! Besides, I'll NEVER marry a bird!"

Shinki sighs and says "it's just denial."

Marisa stares at them some more, her lips extend, her cheeks puff, then suddenly "pffft-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This is just RICH! Alice, I never thought you'd be that type!"

Beams and knives fly past Marisa, who dodges a few that were dead-on target, then says "well, it seems you're ok so I'll head off now."

Alice asks "ah, going to watch that fight?"

From behind Shinki says to herself "and she's already calm!"

Marisa smiles and says "like I'd miss that celestial losing to Rika!"

Concerned, Alice asks "you really think she'll win?"

Shanghai and Hourai rush from below the house, looking very agitated.

Shanghai excitedly says "of course she'll win! She's good. Good people win! That's how it should be! Right Hourai!?"

Hourai nods, then looks away and says "I hope there's cake there."

Shanghai quietly stares to Hourai, but says nothing.

Marisa smiles, then says "I better be going now. I have something important I need to do before the fight starts... See you all at the fight, da-ze~!", and flies away toward the Hakurei Shrine.

Alice asks "mom, do you think there was something strange with Marisa today?"

Shinki smiles wide, then says "dear, when you've lived with Yuki this long, everything else seems normal... Even that witch."

Alice sweats as she stares at Shinki with narrow surprised eyes, but says nothing.

-

Marisa arrives to the Hakurei Shrine, but immediately upon landing she hears voices coming from inside, so she decides to hide by the donation box.

Inside she hears Mima and Suika crying.

Mima sniffles and says "I'm sorry, but that's just so sad and beautiful!"

Suika adds "I know! Rika, you poor sweet girl, you!"

They both start crying loudly again, but stop when Reimu speaks louder than their cries shouting "RIKA, TELL ME SOMETHING!"

They quiet down, then Reimu asks "is the outside world really that advanced? From what Sanae and the goddesses at the Moriya Shrine say... machines aren't as amazing as you describe them!"

Marisa whispers "geez, what are they talking about? Don't they know the fight is just in a few hours? Why aren't they leaving?"

From inside Reimu asks "what year do you believe this is?"

Rika hesitantly says "well... 2785..."

Marisa whispers "whoa... What the heck?"

There are quick footsteps inside, then a moment of silence.

Rika suddenly asks "my... my lady, is this thing accurate?"

Reimu exclaims "Yukari brought this back the day she took you home!"

Mima suspiciously asks "are you sure you're not pulling their legs?"

Marisa chuckles, but covers her mouth so she's not heard.

Rika replies "but... how can that be? I mean..."

Reimu sounds annoyed when she says "never mind! We'll ask Yukari when we see her. Please, just continue with your story!"

Marisa whispers "story? Well, this is becoming interesting..."

Rika sighs, then says "alright. Well, I WAS supposed to come back after 3 days but..."

The hours pass, and Marisa listens to Rika's tale while she was away back home, getting a good laugh when she hears Mima call herself "mama-Mima" while Suika cries after Mima calls her an un-cute drunk.

Finally, Rika ends her story and there is silence.

Marisa only hears a few mumbles, then Reimu suddenly says "but I still don't understand, why do you have to do this!? Rika, just say the word and I'll have this battle cancelled!"

While they speak inside Marisa whispers "that girl's gone through so much... She's definitely tough, and at least that story explains the wings an all the changes... anyway, why aren't they leaving already!?"

From inside Reimu says "come on. It's almost time."

Rika giggles and says "right! Let's go!"

Marisa smiles and triumphantly whispers "finally! I can make my move."

She tip-toes to the back of the shrine, since Reimu's locked the side entrance, but she stops when she sees Reimu rush back and enter the shrine very quickly.

She can hear rummaging inside, then thinks "dammit all! Reimu's too sharp sometimes."

Rika shouts "my lady, is everything alright?"

From the porch Reimu says "sorry! I forgot something important!" then flies away to heaven with Suika and Mima accompanying them.

When everything is clear again, Marisa enters the shrine and heads straight to the cabinet.

She rummages through all the drawers then sighs and says "Reimu, you just made this harder for me."

As she walks outside the shrine, she thinks "well, I got the metal, the paint... I just need the whistle and I can make an exact copy... though it'll probably break after one use..."

She places her hands behind her head and says "whatever. This just makes it more interesting, ze!"

-

When Rika arrives to Bhava-Agra, she is surprised by the beauty of the vast land.

Flower everywhere the eye can see, mountains caressed by soft white clouds, the sky looking so clean and the air so fresh.

Rika can't believe she's about to have such a serious fight in such a beautiful land.

Rika's sight-seeing is cut short when a familiar voice says "please, move along. You're holding up the line."

Rika looks down, and there, wearing a white robe tied with a golden rope by the waist, a white straw hat with eyes on her golden lose hair and a halo above, grey eyes, and with a pair of angel wings half the size of her own body, is Shadow Suwako.

Rika exclaims "miss Shadow Suwako!? Is that you!? Oh my goodness, you look so CUTE!"

Instinctively, Rika grabs S-Suwako and hugs her tight, both flapping their wings, though S-Suwako is because of the surprise.

After placing her back on the ground, S-Suwako dusts herself, blushing a little, and says "well... umm, yes, hello miss Rika. I hear that celestial really gave you trouble."

Reimu answers for Rika, saying "yes, and I am against this!"

She turns to Rika and says "Rika, reconsider! Let me cancel this fight!"

Rika sighs and says "my lady, remember. I can keep in my 'Soraogan mode' for almost a day now! Please, have faith in me."

Reimu sighs in defeat, and looking a little sad she says "I have faith in you, Rika. I just don't want to see you get hurt like this. Tenshi's aiming for your life."

Rika looks confidently back to Reimu and says "I will not lose, my lady."

From farther away, a childish and playful voice calls "SPEE~!! Spee, where are you!?"

In an instant, standing next to S-Suwako is S-Shinki, also known as Girlie.

Her hair is long and raven black, and has a piece of it tied up in a ponytail by a pair of hair bobbles on the left side of her head, has a halo brighter than S-Suwako's on her head as well.

She has innocent-looking red eyes and she wears a white robe tied up with a golden rope by her waist, though her robe is twice her own size, and she also has a pair of angel wings half the size of her body like S-Suwako.

She looks at S-Suwako and says Spee, Spee, why are we here again!?"

S-Suwako face palms herself and says "please stop calling me that."

Reimu mischievously says "Spee, huh? Nice name."

Spee looks at Reimu and says "she gave me that name and refuses to change it... oh well."

Rika giggles and says "well it sounds nice... but why Spee?"

Girlie raises her hand and excitedly says "ooh, ooh, I know. It's because I saw Spee flying by REALLY fast, and I shouted at her, but all she could do was scream 'eeeee~!' so I decided to call her Spee~~!!"

Spee looks away in embarrassment and says "I got launched by a catapult. The others said it was fun, but I swear I thought I was going to die again."

Rika and Reimu look at each other, chuckling nervously and Rika saying "well it's a nice name, miss Spee. Oh, and what is your name, young girl."

Girlie quickly says "Girlie, and please call me by my name."

Rika giggles, then asks "ok Girlie... err, why is your robe so big?"

Girlie winks and waves her finger, then says "because I'm going to grow up someday, so I want to be ready and have a BIG robe, so it doesn't break when I grow..."

Again, Rika giggles, this time flapping her wings while patting Girlie on the head, to which the little angel closes her eyes and smiles, enjoying Rika's patting.

-

Reimu suddenly says "well, come on, let's go."

Spee walks away with Girlie and waves back saying "we'll be rooting for you, miss Rika."

Girlie adds "and if that meanie hurts you I'll fill her pillow with rocks."

Again, Rika giggles as she waves at the two angels, then follows after Reimu, but feels a light tug on her shoulder and turns around to face Byakuren, who stands behind her with a smile, holding her hands to her chest.

She says "miss Rika Onkamikami, hi~!"

Rika smiles and says "miss Byakuren, what a surprise!"

Byakuren says "I came here to give my support to such an important friend to my family."

Rika looks curiously at Byakuren and before she asks, Byakuren giggles and says "the Onkamikami once protected my family, particularly my brother... before he..."

Like a wave, the memory of her family protecting the Hijiri rushes into Rika's mind, then Rika gasps and says "oh my, lady Hijiri, of course!"

Byakuren smiles, letting a teardrop fall from her eye as she says "it's so barbaric that the Hinanai still act like this after so long. I wish I could do more than just watch... I will pray for you well-being."

Rika hugs Byakuren on impulse and says "that will be more than enough. Don't worry..."

She lets go of Byakuren and with a determined look in her eyes she says "that girl will learn about equality! After today, the Hinanai and the Onkamikami will stand as equals."

Reimu stands a few feet away, staring at the two smiling girls, then she feels infected by this and smiles as well, thinking "I see... This isn't about honor... but about equality. Rika. You are so different from before.. yet you are still the same as ever."

From above the sky, a small glint catches Reimu's eyes, but long before even she can react Tenshi falls right on top of Rika, holding her sword downward and laughing as she shouts "dishonorable blood BEGONE!"

Reimu calls out for Rika, hoping to save her, but she's too far away, and Tenshi's falling too fast.

By the time Rika and Byakuren notice the sneak attack it's too late.

Tenshi eyes her target with a wicked grin on her face, mere feet away, then a large golden washtub strikes the side of her head so hard, she flies away from the field and slides on the ground, sliding all the way down to the edge of the mountain, destroying many flowers in her path.

Rika looks at the destruction and gasps in horror, then says "no... The flowers..."

From the edge of the mountain Tenshi's voice echoes, shouting "I'm O~ KAY~!"

While Rika and Byakuren stare toward Tenshi's voice, Reimu looks behind her and sees Iku, glaring angrily toward where Tenshi just was.

Reimu takes a breath of relief and mouths "thank you" at Iku, who winks back at her and flips her thumb up, accidentally setting off a bolt of lightning that strikes her own head.

-

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Kyo, Luna, Spee (S-Suwako) and Girlie (S-Shinki) were created by Willie G.R.

Rika was created by Snapshot 2010

MAR 3 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**First off, I want to again thank those who have shown support by leaving their reviews/comments. Also, to a review on chapter 1, I am very glad this fic has inspired you to continue on your own.**

**Well, things are getting tough now. Budou knows something about Ail she's not telling, her whistle failed, Sanae's losing her spirit. It's really tough, isn't it? Sometimes I wish things like these didn't happen... but oh well. Things will get better, right? "It's always darkest just before dawn." "The closer you are to the light, the greater your shadow becomes." – Kingdom Hearts intro stage I believe this quote comes from.**

**Anyway, note that the next chapter might take me longer as it's going to be a collaboration. Also, don't think the two-week period I skipped over had no events. If not before chapter 4 of Paradise Sukima, or after, I'll be posting a special little mishap that happens to Reimu and Rika at the shrine during one of these two skipped weeks. Oh well, I hope you are enjoying the read. Take care.**


	4. Chapter 4

A few minutes after Tenshi's failed surprise attack, Rika convinces Byakuren to calm down and let her go on with the fight, saying "lady Hijiri, if I don't do this, things like these will keep happening. She'll come back for me, and she might hurt my lady Reimu just to get to me, and I can't allow that."

Byakuren sighs and says "alright... Just, please, be very careful out there. You might be kind and sweet... but that celestial doesn't seem to share those traits."

Smiling, Rika bows to Byakuren and says "thank you for your kind words lady Hijiri."

As Rika says these words, Shou and Nazrin reach Byakuren, quietly bow to Rika, then all three head toward a large field that is surrounded by stands forming a large oval in the center like a large arena, magically covered by clouds to keep the spectators cool while they watch the fight.

Reimu stands behind Rika, then says "that celestial invited everyone! Even some humans form the village came!"

Rika looks surprised at Reimu, then asks "really? But wouldn't they put themselves in danger by being here... with so many youkai, I mean. Wait, how do you know there are humans here?"

Reimu points to the benches, and cowering to a corner are various humans, while a few youkai, including Kurumi and Rumia, who sit beside Yuka and Elly, stare at them with hungry eyes.

Rika sweats and says "I... I see..."

Reluctantly, Reimu says "come on. It's time."

Rika nods while smiling, then walks beside Reimu, slowly approaching the arena.

While walking there Reimu says "I may not like this, but at least now I understand why you are doing this. Rika, I may not be able to interfere, but I'll do everything in my power to support you in there."

Rika rapidly flaps her little wings as she smiles and cups her hands together while staring at her mistress, then says "my lady, with you here is MORE than enough!"

Meanwhile, Marisa just arrives to Bhava-Agra, and quickly inspects her surroundings.

She looks to the stands and says "good. Those seats have large enough gaps... I can sneak up, grab it, and be done with it before Reimu even notices."

As she continues to stare at the stands she notices the humans sitting relaxed, looking toward the center of the arena while eating some snacks, and the youkai beside them look nervous, some even sweating, and that includes Rumia.

Between the youkai and the villagers, sitting with wide and ominous smiles on their faces, are Kyo, Luna, Keine, Medicine, and even Mokou, who sits closer to the Youkai, keeping away from the humans.

Rumia takes baby steps toward one particular human, but she stops when Kyo, in a playful tone says "go ahead, try it."

Luna adds "you'll be sitting in pieces..." and Medicine adds "with poison burning every single wound in your aching body."

Rumia slowly backs away, then smiles nervously and says "i-is that so~? ...I'll be good..."

Down at the first row of seats, on the stands across the ones where the human are, Reimu and Rika look around, Reimu saying "The Scarlet Devil Mansion, Eintei, the Village, The Garden of the Sun. Geez, she even invited the ice fairies for the lake!"

A few seats away are Cirno, Daiyousei and many other fairies, Cirno boastfully saying "this fight is probably NOTHING compared to what I can do! If I were in it, it would be unfair to the others, and that's why I'm not."

Daiyousei smiles and softly claps her hands, saying "you are very considerate, Cirno-chan."

Next to them are Remilia, who looks at the ice fairies with contempt, Sakuya, who hands her mistress some tea, asking "do you want me to quiet them down?", and Meiling, who shouts at the top of her lungs "ALRIGHT~! Come on, let the match begin already!"

She smiles as she turns her head to Sakuya and Remilia, then says "thank you very much for bringing me along!"

Sakuya and Remilia both sigh, then Remilia says "if you scream like that again I'm docking your pay."

Meiling panics, then quiets down, saying "I'll be quiet, my lady."

Tenshi's voice echoes all over the arena as she shouts "IS EVERYONE READY~!"

The crowd cheers, then quiets down, then Tenshi falls from the sky, riding one of her keystones and glares at Rika after landing, and while pointing at her she says "then lets... BEGIN!"

Reimu looks worried toward Rika. She wants to have the match cancelled, but she steels herself, gives Rika a light hug, and almost crying she says "you win this and shut that celestial's trap, you hear!"

Rika sighs and nods with a smile, then turns around to face Tenshi.

The crowd is now quiet, allowing Rika to hear her own footsteps as she approaches Tenshi, who smirks confidently while waiting for Rika to get close.

Rika feels more tense with every step she takes, and when she's finally 6 feet away from Tenshi, the celestial unsheathes her Sword of Hisou and points it toward Rika, then says "this is a 5 spell cards battle! The agreement stands! If I win, you are to leave this land of Gensokyo forever!"

She raises her hands, making the crowd cheer for a moment, and the second they quiet down Rika's soft voice seems to echo all around as she says "and if I win you'll have to accept me as an equal! In fact..."

The crowd is about cheer but keep silent, and even Reimu stares at Rika with a preoccupied expression.

Rika smirks and continues "lets raise the stakes a little... unless you're afraid."

Tenshi stomps the ground hard and says "spill it!"

Rika calmly says "if I win, not only will you have to accept me as an equal, you'll also have to build me a green house, and I want it somewhere that won't inconvenience my mistress, AND you'll make sure it's sturdy enough to withstand anything, including earthquakes."

Tenshi's face twists with a wicked smirk, then says "I'll accept... in fact, if I win, instead of leaving, I'll let you stay here as my PERSONAL slave! You'll bow down to me at ALL times, even in your sleep, for as long as it takes for you to BREAK, and your sword... will belong to ME as well!"

Rika sweats, thinking her sudden challenge may have been a mistake, however she forces herself to nod and say "I... I accept!"

The crowd cheers, excitement filling the air. With the stakes so high, Rika finds another reason not to fail as she prepares herself, covering her mouth and nose with her red scarf and unsheathes her sword, and the second she does her wings grow to her body size, her sword changes to its beautifully colored state, and Rika's eyes turn brighter blue with clouds coursing through them.

Reimu looks surprised. Raising the stakes like that makes her feel even more uneasy about the battle, but when she sees Rika transform she whispers "Soraogan mode..." then smiles, knowing she's going to give her all.

Marisa watches from behind the stands through the gaps between seats while looking for Reimu.

She sees Rika transform, then says "well, she definitely looks a lot cuter than last time she transformed, ze. Ah, but now's not the time... I have to find Reimu... where is... Aww crap! She's over there!"

Marisa realizes she is all the way across the stands, on the opposite side to where Reimu is.

There is a moment of pause as the two opponents eye each other from across the arena, and in a sudden flash, Tenshi strikes Rika hard with her sword, making her block with her own, causing her knees bend as she pushes back against Tenshi's might.

Tenshi backs away, then is striking Rika's sword with her own while holding her Sword of Hisou with both hands.

Ever time that sword connects with Rika's there is a loud hiss that comes from it, which seems to startle Rika for a moment, and even surprises Tenshi, who regardless of the surprise continues to attack using all her might with each strike.

Tenshi shouts "what a coward you are! You won't even attack! But I know why that is... It's because you KNOW what I say is true, so tell you what.. I'll be merciful and KILL you right now!"

Tenshi fakes a frontal swing, then suddenly changes to a side attack, catching Rika off balance and pushing her sword to the side and making Rika lose her footing, then places her sword right next to Rika's neck.

When she places the blade so close to Rika, the sword hisses even louder, making Rika feel more unsettled and surprising Tenshi so much, she casually retracts her swords and stares at it, then says "what is WITH this thing? Sounds like a rabid cat!"

Rika takes this chance to move fast, and looking like a blur she gets close to Tenshi and tries to strike, but the celestial blocks just in time, getting away from Rika, and though their swords connect, Tenshi's sword doesn't hiss.

Tenshi cackles, and while staring wickedly at Rika she says "now I understand, even my sword wants you dead! I can't deny its wish, can I?", then lunges straight at Rika.

Rika uses the force of the impact from Tenshi's strike to flip backwards in the air, getting great distance form Tenshi after landing.

She sheathes her family sword and pulls out her support spell card and quickly calls "Oath Keeper!"

She enters the golden gate that opens next to her, then comes out with another sword along with her family's.

She quickly unsheathes it, revealing it's her earth sword, and pulls a spell card from her pocket, then shouts "Earth Sign Ressaishouha!"

Tenshi laughs and shouts "already used TWO spell cards! WEAK~!"

Both battlers seem to freeze in place as Reimu says "ACTUALLY..."

A bubble with Reimu encased in it and holding a teacup forms up beside the battlers and says "that first card is a support card, therefore doesn't count as a spell card. So, she's only used one so far."

Tenshi turns her attention to Reimu's bubble and shouts "THAT"S NOT FAIR! And what are you doing in that bubble!"

Tenshi turns her attention back to Rika as she prepares her spell, then says "no matter. I'll still beat this girl!"

Rika holds her earth sword firmly and flips in the air, banging the ground with the broad side of her sword, crushing the ground around her and creating large boulders that scatter as they fly toward Tenshi.

Tenshi smirks and says "using an earth spell against me? You think way too little of me, little demon."

Tenshi summons a large keystone that falls from the sky, protecting her form Rika's attack, then pulls a spell card form her apron and shouts "Earth Sign Sword of the Unsettling Soil!"

Just after Rika flips to the air, Tenshi stabs her sword on the ground, causing massive boulders to rise from the ground just as Rika lands, pushing her to the air by force.

Tenshi smirks and says "GOT YOU!"

Rika manages to flip and balance in the air, then holds her sword downward with both hands as she falls, then shouts "High art Resshintenshou!"

Tenshi wisely jumps away as Rika lands hard, stabbing her sword on the ground, creating piles of stones she strikes fast with her sword, breaking them to pieces and sending sharp stones straight toward Tenshi, who confidently smiles and prepares to bat all the stones back.

At first she deflects the stones with ease, but she relaxes too much and a single sharp rock penetrates her defenses, cutting her cheek just underneath her left eye.

Tenshi yelps and touches herself under her eye, noticing some blood, then clenches her teeth and growls while shouting "you're going to PAY FOR THAT!"

Tenshi rushes to Rika, who prepares for a full-frontal attack, then Tenshi shouts "Sword of the Earth!" then stabs her sword on the ground, making small boulder rise from underneath, knocking Rika off balance and giving Tenshi a chance to get close and strike Rika's face with the hilt of her own sword, which hisses loudly as she strikes.

Rika yelps in pain which makes Reimu stand up and shout with all her might "RIKA FOCUS! Remember what I told you about!"

Reimu sits back down, looking preoccupied while she does, then Aya comes flying to her from the sky and immediately after landing next to her she says "it's alright, Reimu. Calm down. She'll manage."

Reimu gulps and says "I know... I know. I just can't help getting worried."

Aya embraces Reimu and softly says "I know, I know. Just calm down or you'll have her worry for you too."

Reimu feels as her heart slowly relaxes, then says to Aya "I... I know. Thank you Aya."

From underneath them, Marisa goes to the extremes and crawls under where Reimu and Aya sit. In just seconds she notices the whistle in Reimu's pockets and thinks "yes, this is it! She's distracted now!"

Marisa quickly reaches for the whistle and takes it without effort, then rolls away from the stands and goes as far away as possible from the fight.

She finds a clear spot on the ground and whispers "excellent!"

She takes out a small mineral stone, a bottle with golden paint, and a piece of paper with an alchemic circle drawn on it.

She places the paper on the ground, and inside the circle she places the mineral and the bottle of pain on the center of the circle, and on the edge of the circle she places the original whistle, then places her hands on the circle itself, applying her own magic to it, and immediately the circle, the whistle and the components glow bright and as the light fades away another whistle identical to the original now replaces the two components.

Marisa smirks and says "great! This is perfect! Now all I need to do is return the real whistle to Reimu."

She hurriedly grabs the two whistles and almost forgets the paper, but when she turns around to grab it, she slips and falls, mixing the two whistles up.

She desperately looks at them, then says "shit, what have I done!"

She picks them up, but is unable to tell them apart. Marisa sadly sighs, then says "I hope I pick the right one."

Back at the stands, Marisa takes advantage that Reimu and Aya are so distracted by the battle, she places the whistle back inside Reimu's pocket without being detected, and hopes she placed the right one in there, and that the one she has is the copy.

She hurriedly flies away on her broom, thinking of going home to check if the blessings are finished and her gate is ready, however she stops and looks back at Rika and Tenshi, then at Reimu and Aya, then sighs sadly and says "I can't leave like this. I have to show my support... I guess I'll stay."

She flies back to the seats above Reimu's, and after sitting down she says "Rika's pretty strong, ze!"

Reimu and Aya turn around, Reimu smiling widely and exclaiming "Marisa, you came!"

While Marisa copies the whistle, Rika and Tenshi's fight continues.

While Rika shakes off the throbbing pain in her face, her golden gate opens up beside her, then she jumps in, immediately coming out with another sword.

Tenshi smiles and whispers to herself "interesting. She's using the second one already."

Rika pulls a spell card from her pocket and shouts "wind sign Neppa Senpuujin!"

While holding the hilt of her sheathed sword she appears to charge herself up, then suddenly Tenshi sees a blur in front of Rika, and almost immediately a wind blade rushes straight to Tenshi, trailing wind danmaku bullets along, then Rika suddenly moves to the side and unleashes another wind blade, moving so fast that she and her hand look like blurs.

From the stands, some humans and Medicine comment "but she's just dancing around. How can those blades appear out of nowhere?"

Kyo keeps his eyes on the battle along with Luna, both staring seriously, then he says "she's moving her hand so fast, it looks like she's not attacking at all..."

Luna adds "but she more certainly is swinging that blade."

Medicine stares curiously at the two humans, then back at the fight. She gasps and says "oh, I think I saw her hand move!"

In the center of the arena, Tenshi manages to dodge the wind blades with ease, however she is struck by the bullets over and over, and quickly losing her patience she pulls a spell card from her apron and shouts "Earthquake Sword of Worry First, Joy Later!"

She stabs her sword on the ground, induces tectonic vibrations through it, then pulls it back out just as one of Rika's wind blades strikes her left arm, leaving a thin and long bruise that covers the entire arm.

Tenshi yelps, but withstands the pain and continues to dodge as best she can.

Rika continues her fast attacks, the thinks "I got her... I just need to follow this up. Strange though... That spell she used did nothing, and yet what is this bad feeling I'm getting?"

While still dodging, Tenshi shouts "time's up!" then the ground starts to shake violently, knocking Rika's balance and cancelling her spell card.

She takes advantage of this and rushes to attack, but Rika uses the momentum and starts to spin while shouting "hi art Dankuuken!"

Tenshi asks "what!", while Rika spins one more time, generating a small whirlwind on her sword, then swings her sword from below towards the sky, slashing Tenshi upward, sending her airborne and lifting to the air herself for a moment, then both land back down, Rika on her feet, Tenshi on her back.

Rika stands firm, glaring toward Tenshi and asking "do you wish to give up?"

Tenshi lifts her head up as if nothing happened, then laughs and asks "you THINK I'll give up just like that?"

Tenshi feels something warm below her face, so she places her hand there, and right under her chin she discovers another cut with some blood on it.

She clenches her teeth, trembling in rage, hops on to her feet, then shouts "you will pay for this, you demon!"

Tenshi pulls out a spell card from her apron, and while glaring at Rika she says "I'll make you regret ever being born!"

The stands are now full, youkai of all kinds all around Reimu, and some humans from the village safely behind their protectors.

Ichirin, Minamitsu and Nue arriving just in time to see Rika strike Tenshi with her upward sword-slash and cheering at the top of their voices.

Byakuren says to Shou "I guess I was worried for nothing. Rika's been doing really well."

Above Reimu, Marisa places a hand on her friend's shoulder and says "see? Rika's got this in the bag."

Reimu look worriedly back at Marisa, then says "I'll stop worrying after this is all over" then turns to face the arena, thinking "Tenshi's been taking it easy, underestimating Rika... but that look in her eyes..."

At the center of the arena, Tenshi gets a little closer to Rika, then shouts "Heaven Sign Sword of the Justness of Heaven's Way!"

Tenshi inclines her body, holds her sword pointing upward above her head, her entire body gets covered in a scarlet energy and before Rika realizes it, Tenshi lifts her to the air, stabbing her by her left shoulder with her sword which hisses so loud even Reimu hears it, and making the scar between Rika's back glow for a moment, however Reimu's voice helps Rika react and pull herself from Tenshi, falling back down to the ground on her abdomen while Tenshi flies just a bit higher before dropping back down to the ground next to Rika.

With a wicked and triumphant smile, Tenshi raises her sword, pointing it downward at Rika, who reacts when Reimu calls for her a second time.

Rika rolls away just as Tenshi stabs her sword to the ground, then opens her golden gate and jumps inside, this time coming out with her lightning sword already unsheathed, then she rushes to Tenshi and shouts "Low art Senraiga!"

While she rushes toward Tenshi, she slashes the ground and the air around her, leaving lines of light all around, then passes by Tenshi, who easily dodges Rika's clumsy attempt to attack.

Rika stops and sheathes her sword, and the second it clicks the lines turn to lightning danmaku bullets that head straight to Tenshi, however the celestial moves away and watches as the bullets continue their course, only to explode and release shockwaves around them.

Tenshi smiles, then says "what a pathetic attack!" then rushes toward Rika, ready to strike hard, but Rika jumps out of the way, using Tenshi's head as a support to jump higher, then reveals a spell card under her sleeve and shouts "Thunder Sign Indignation no Shouou Jin'eizan!"

Rika slashes the air, making many large lines in the air that spread into countless bullets, then distances herself from Tenshi while the celestial is distracted and begins to chant "I who stand in the full light of heaven command thee, who opens the Gates of Hell, come forth, DIVINE LIGHTNING!"

Right after Rika finishes her chant, from the stand Iku shouts "RIKA, NO! THAT WON'T WORK!"

Tenshi looks toward Iku and shouts back "stop helping!"

Thunder strikes above Rika, who raises her sword as a large lightning bolt strikes hard where she stands, her entire body glowing with the energy of that lightning.

Moving so fast that she looks like a bolt of lightning herself, Rika heads straight toward Tenshi, who simply stances defensively.

Rika is about to strike the celestial, but Tenshi grabs her by the neck as if nothing, and when she gets hit by the trailing lightning danmaku bullets, she giggles and says "wow, you must be getting tired... that tickles."

Rika's stored energy vanishes, her spell card cancelled with ease, then Tenshi tosses her forward and immediately sends a small keystone spinning like a drill toward Rika, striking her back hard.

Right after falling, Rika arcs her whole body, holding her back in pain as she tries to get back up.

Reimu is besides herself with worry, calling out to Rika to get up while being held back by Aya and Marisa, both trying to calm her down and preventing her from interfering with the match.

Rika stops arching her body but seems to have trouble breathing as Tenshi gets closer and kneels next to her and whispers "I know you only have one spell card left. Are you going to use it... or do you want to give in and become my slave already?"

Using the last bit of the lightning energy in her, Rika punches Tenshi's abdomen hard, making the celestial expel all the air in her system, then rolls away and enters her golden gate, coming out of it with two more swords, one of them placed right in front of Rika's family sword.

Rika glares at Tenshi as she unsheathes her fire sword, and sounding determined the says "I won't lose. You need to learn much, but you won't learn a thing if you win! I can't let you!"

Tenshi recovers from the blow and angrily replies "I'll enjoy cutting you to pieces!"

Before they know it, they are clashing blades hard against one-another, both wounded and already feeling tired.

On the stands, Cirno stands up and proudly points at herself with her thumb and says "those flashy tricks are NOTHING compared to what I can do! I am the strongest after all!"

Cirno suddenly gasps, opening her eyes wide when Tenshi shouts "Sword of Scarlet Perception!", and at the same time Rika shouts "Souryuu Rengazan!"

When these two fast attacks clash, a powerful shock wave courses through the field all the way to the stands, sending Cirno flying all the way away from the stands and to the ground behind.

At first, everyone looks at Cirno with concern, but just shrug and continue to watch the match afterward.

Cirno lies with her belly on the ground, her eyes spinning in place, mumbling "I... I'm... the ztrongezt... heh heh."

Meanwhile, having calmed down enough to sit back down, Reimu holds her gohei with both hands and twits it while glaring at Tenshi.

Aya calmly says "they're getting tired."

Marisa comments "well, they are both giving it their all, ze."

Reimu replies "I don't care... I just want this to end already! Guh! So stubborn! I should have called this off."

Marisa stares at Reimu for a moment, then sounding casual she says "to think you're actually worried like this. I think I'm jealous."

Aya snaps "watch what you're saying there!"

Reimu sighs and while staring dreamily toward the arena she says "I worry about all my friends, and that includes you. Rika has just been through so much already. It's just like Ail... Did you know he went into hell, just to save OUR sorry butts?"

Marisa stares at Reimu with great surprise in her eyes, to which Reimu chuckles and says "he and Rika are almost alike. They'll do anything for those they care about. I want to do something for them... but I can't find what."

Marisa quietly stares at Reimu, thinking "I want to help you too, Reimu. That's why I'm opening that paradise. I want to see you live in peace."

Suddenly, Aya says "for those two, staying alive and safe is enough. That's all they wish for their friends in the end."

Reimu and Marisa stare at Aya, then smile and continue to watch the match.

In the center of the Arena, Tenshi and Rika continue to constantly clash swords, Tenshi's sword hissing every time it gets too close to Rika.

They split up, then Tenshi says in a menacing voice "you demonic reject! Just because you grew those wings doesn't mean thing!"

Rika shouts back "learn equality, miss Hinanai!", then pulls a spell card from her pocket and shouts "Fire & Water Sign Embarco Endo no Zeppa Juujishou!"

Rika grabs her fire sword with both hands and begins to slash the air, sending danmaku waves toward Tenshi and getting closer while the celestial simply continues to block and deflect the attack while glaring at Rika.

After sending one last wave and getting close enough, Rika unsheathes her water sword, sheathing her fire sword at the same time, then grabs the water sword with both hands and starts slashing in crescents at Tenshi, who clenches her teeth and glares back at Rika with hatred while blocking her attacks.

Unaware, underneath Tenshi, piles of ice form up with each one of Rika's slashes, and when she tries to take a step back, she realizes she's trapped.

Tenshi gasps as Rika smiles and says "time to end this!"

Rika jumps away and places her hands together while closing her eyes, looking as though she's praying, and after a short chant a copy of Rika appears next to the real one, holding her fire sword already unsheathed.

Tenshi gasps in horror and tires to break free from the ice as the two Rikas move in unison straight toward her, blades ready to strike, and hard.

When the two Rikas are in range both shout at the same time "embrace end!"

As they pass through Tenshi, they cross their swords, making a bright and large X mark that burns and freezes Tenshi's skin as she screams loud to the air, and after the spell is done, the ice melts away allowing Tenshi to fall face-first to the ground.

Rika breathes heavily while looking back at her fallen opponent, and after a few seconds she sheathes her swords and the crowd begins to cheer.

She continues to stare at Tenshi for a little longer before turning to face her mistress with a triumphant smile.

At first, Reimu returns the smile, but her smile quickly vanishes as she desperately points back at Rika, who instinctively grabs her family sword and blocks Tenshi's back attack with ease, however Tenshi pushes her back like nothing, then growls "I... am not... FINISHED!"

A spell card surrounded in what looks like an earthy aura appears in front of Tenshi as she lifts her sword and shouts "Non-perception Sword of Neither Perception Nor Non-Perception!"

Her sword is surrounded by a scarlet mist, then she swings her sword too fast for Rika to do anything, a large round seal appearing right after it hits, then boastfully says "HAH! I just sealed your weather!"

Rika analyzes the move, and inside her mind, a voice says "use that against her. Use your ability to copy that move you just saw with your own eyes!"

She suddenly swings her sword, which is also covered in a scarlet mist, then a round seal forms as she strikes.

Tenshi gasps both amazed and surprised, then shouts "th-that's your 5th spell card!"

Rika giggles, then asks "but I didn't use a spell card."

Tenshi glares back, then points at her wile narrowing her eyes, then says "I don't like you!", then tries to slash Rika, who blocks just in time, and so the battle resumes.

The melee battle intensifies. Both battlers have used 4 spell cards, though 4 is all Rika had to begin with.

Tenshi feels pressured; that last attack Rika pulled off drained a lot out of her and she's only got one more spell card, however... she refuses to use it yet.

Knowing that Rika had only those 4 spell cards gives her the confidence she needs to continue the physical attacks.

Their swords clash mercilessly, Tenshi's sword hissing whenever it gets close to Rika.

After one sudden swing from both girls, some blood drops fall toward Remilia, who jumps behind Meiling like a blur, and sounding very serious she says "Meiling, sit in front of me... that is white blood... Both girls have it."

Meiling looks confused as she asks "is that bad?"

Remilia whispers "it can kill any vampire that drinks it. Sakuya... I don't trust that girl. I don't want her near myself or Flan, you got that?"

Sakuya stares back with fright and worry, then hesitantly bows and says "a-as you wish... my lady."

Tenshi and Rika continue to clash their swords hard, either blocking or attacking, hoping to break the other's defenses.

Rika is getting tired, hungry, her head feels light, but she presses on, her mind constantly playing what could happen should she lose.

For a second, Rika's thoughts overwhelm her, and in this second, Tenshi takes the advantage, twirls behind her, then knocks her on the back of the head with the hilt of her sword, making Rika fall face-down to the ground.

Not wasting another moment, Tenshi positions her sword downward and pushes the tip of her sword between Rika's wings, making her scream in both fright and pain.

Tenshi chuckles, then says "and now... game over!"

Tenshi summons the will and strength to push that sword down hard, however the Sword of Hisou and the scar between Rika's wings begin to glow.

This glow expands and surrounds the entire arena, including the spectators... and then the entire scene changes to that of an old compound, where young Rika practices her swordplay under the watchful eyes of her still living parents.

Young Rika stops her swordplay, then sits down to meditate.

Some people now surround her parents while she continues to meditate, all shouting insults and calling Rika a defect.

One of them shouts "she doesn't even have wings!", while another shouts "neither does she have the eyes! She's NOT of pure blood!"

They argue for a little longer, then suddenly, a man who appears to be the leader of this group stands next to the meditating Rika, holding the Sword of Hisou in his hands.

Rika wakes up from her meditation to see her parents running to her with a look of despair and worry to which she asks "mama? Papa?"

The next thing she knows, she is being slashed on the back and falling on the ground.

The man's voice echoes as the scene vanishes "one who doesn't belong here should not even exist! She did not inherit any of her family's gifts, so that means that she is a DEFECT!"

This last word echoes all over the arena as the scene finally returns to normal.

Tenshi now stands towering above Rika while holding her sword in hand.

Rika kneels beside Tenshi, using her own sword for support, her fire and water sword gone along with the golden gate.

From the stands some people boo and hiss while others cry for Rika, one of them being Byakuren, who tries to hold back her tears while she says "even these so-called celestial beings are just monsters! They don't share equality as they should!"

At first, Tenshi feels a little ashamed of what she's just witnessed, but the hiss and boos from the crowd irritate her, so she shouts "aw pipe down! That was then, this is now!"

Yuka shouts "you celestials are all a bunch of lame weaklings!"

Tenshi shouts back "what do you know!"

One of the male villagers shouts "submit! Show some dignity!"

Tenshi growls, then shouts "ENOUGH!" and summons many keystones that prevent anyone from moving from their seats for a moment, then raises her sword above her head and says "I'll be merciful and just END your retched life already!"

Kneeling with her head down besides Tenshi while she is being showered by boos and hisses from the crowd, Rika cries inconsolably, saying to herself "mom... dad. How? How could you let them to that? They attacked me... your child!"

In her mind, Rika says "Rika, snap out of it! Didn't you see their faces? They tried, but they couldn't get to you in time!"

Rika sobs and whispers "bu-but... I was just a child! How could they do that! What did I ever do to them! Why attack us; kill ME!"

In her mind she responds "that is why you have to win NOW! Rika, that's the past! Remember, you are in the middle of a fight with their daughter! You have to stand up, you have to WIN!"

Rika cries more as she whispers to herself "but... he said... I don't belong here. Where do I belong then!"

Tenshi raises her sword and says "I'll be merciful and just END your retched life!", then everything just stops.

Silence surrounds Rika, who continues to kneel with her face down before she realizes everything is quiet.

She looks around and finds herself in the same white room where she met Reimu, back during her trials in her family's ruins.

There stands Shikieiki Yamaxanadu who commands "Rika Onkamikami... STAND UP!"

Slowly, Rika stands up, wiping the tears from her eyes with her sleeves, then looks at Shikieiki and says "oh, *sniffle* it's you. The woman in that large courtroom."

Shikieiki quietly stares back at Rika, holding her golden sword over her mouth, then says "I am sure you'll be glad to know, those wicked beings that did this to you and your parents are now in hell."

Rika sniffles again, and in a sad tone of voice she says "so they never repented for what they did? That's so sad. They would have been much happier in heaven."

Shikieiki smiles, then says "so you don't resent them at all?"

Again, Rika sniffles and wipes her eyes with her sleeves one last time, and recovering herself she says "n-no... I don't. It's just, after seeing all that... after what they did, what they said..."

Shikieiki smiles again, then asks "Rika Onkamikami, do you belong here?"

Rika quickly replies "y...yes?" then Shikieiki raises her eyebrow and asks again, sounding more paused "do you... belong here?"

The question echoes inside Rika's mind as she suddenly drifts into a recent memory.

She's back at the compound where she trained after VIVIT saved her.

She holds a wooden sword and stares at a waterfall that's only 2 feet in front of her, remembering her master's instructions "Rika, I want you to make a clean cut to that waterfall from here!"

Rika slashes the water, but fails as her sword is pushed down by the force of the water.

She sighs then tries again, failing yet again.

She spends many nights and days trying, but failing all attempts, since to her this task makes no sense at all.

After many days of failed attempts, Rika's master decides to present an example, so she grabs Rika's wooden sword, stands 2 feet away from the small waterfall, and in a simple and fast strike, she slashes the water and makes a clean cut through it that is immediately replaced by the falling stream.

The woman walks to Rika and hands her wooden sword back, then says "Rika... life is fun, right?", then smiles widely.

Still smiling like that she continues "oh, and if you're still trying to cut the waterfall with your eyes, then you still got a long way to go."

Her master's smile turns softer, more gentle, then she says "look through the truth inside your heart, Rika."

Those words stay with Rika, even to the next day, when she tries to cut the waterfall once more.

She meditates for a moment, then holds her sword with both hands while standing two feet away from the falling water.

She closes her eyes and listens to the voice of nature around her, making her feel calm and soothed.

She opens her eyes again and swings her sword and makes a clean cut on the water.

She smiles wide, feeling great accomplishment, then looks around her, admiring nature as is surrounds her... and so finally, Rika finds her truth.

Back inside the white room with Shikieiki, Rika hears the yama asks "do you belong here?" one more time.

Rika breathes deeply and with a wide and gentle smile she says "yes... I have found my truth, and I believe... no, I am SURE of it! I do belong here!"

Shikieiki smiles gently, then says "then Gensokyo accepts you with its all. You, have its blessings."

Back at the arena, Tenshi swings her sword, aiming to cut Rika's neck, even with Reimu flying over her keystones and threatening her.

Just before the sword strikes, Rika moves away too fast to be noticed.

She now stands with her eyes glowing light-yellow and her entire body surrounded by a white aura that seems to release sparkles of its own.

Reimu stops and looks at Rika, then whispers "tha... that's... Ten'I Muhou no Kiwami..."

At the stands, sitting next to Marisa is Youmu, who says "...or commonly known as Flawless Unity. This... that girl has reached the highest state of self-surrender."

While Youmu says this with much admiration, Marisa stares back at her with curiosity and asks "when did you get here?", while Yuyuko, who sits besides Youmu, eyes Alice and her dolls, who sit far away in the middle of the stands.

Meiling and Remilia stare are Rika with the outmost admiration, then Meiling says "this world has accepted that girl, and now is empowering her. It's so... beautiful."

Sakuya asks "what does that mean?"

Meiling replies "it's a state that most martial artists only WISH they could attain. Right now, that girl is in harmony with the world around her."

Remilia sighs, then says "yes, it's impressive..." then crosses her arms across her chest and says "but she still has that white blood, so I'll keep my distance."

Meanwhile, Rika sheathes her sword, then looks back at Tenshi with pity in her eyes, then says "come on, Tenshi Hinanai. Let's stop this now. Let's be friend. Rise above the rest and show you truly are such a heightened being to all present here."

Tenshi hesitates, staring back at Rika, then says "n-no... I can't! You're trying to TRICK ME!"

Rika sighs, then says "I'm not going to fight you anymore... but I won't let you win either."

Tenshi smiles, then says "that fine by me! Just stand there and DIE!"

Tenshi swings her sword with all her might, but Rika simply dodges while smiling at her.

While swinging, Tenshi says "why won't... you stand... still for a moment... and let me... KILL YOU!"

Rika continues to smile while she dodges all of Tenshi's attacks, then says "come on, miss Tenshi, you are tired, and I'm sure you're as hungry as I am. Why don't you just stop now and admit defeat? I'll let you take your time with that green house~?"

Tenshi's face turns red with rage as she pushes herself to attack faster and harder, then replies "why don't you drop down... and die!"

Rika shrugs as she continues to dodge with ease and says "suit yourself miss Tenshi."

From the stands, Byakuren cheers on, standing up and shouting "that's it miss Rika! She's wearing down! Teach her a lesson!"

Minamitsu looks at Byakuren and sweats, then says "she sure is excited all of a sudden."

From Reimu's benches, Reimu, Marisa and Youmu cheer on, Reimu shouting "I GOT AN ENTIRE PEACH PIE FOR YOU AT HOME RIKA~!"

Rika giggles as she continues to dodge, then says "did you hear that, miss Tenshi? If you give up now, I'll share some of that with you."

Tenshi continues to swing and miss, getting more tired with each swing, then replies to Rika "ju-just stand still! Let me... let me beat you at least!"

Tenshi stops, holding herself up by supporting herself with her thighs and breathing heavily while lowering her head. Rika approaches her and asks "so are you giving up now?"

Tenshi's face shows blind rage as she forces a smile and a spell card surrounded by a yellow aura floats in front of her, then she says "I've had ENOUGH of this! You can burn in hell!", then shouts "Scarlet Weather Rhapsody for All Humankind!"

Rika looks surprised as Tenshi floats ominously in the air and her sword starts spinning in the air like a propeller, then a very sudden large red beam flies from the spinning sword and heads straight to Rika, who moves out of the way with ease, however, when the destructive beam touches the ground, it starts to destroy it mercilessly.

Rika feels the pain the world feels while Tenshi's beam destroys it, and feeling almost dizzy from the pain, she almost falls down, but she keeps on her feet, then manages to move away just as Tenshi aims the beam to her, breaking more of the mountains as she does, unknowingly making Rika feel the pain nature feels.

Tenshi cackles and shouts "how do you feel now, you WORM! Come on, dodge all you want, TAUNT ME SOME MORE!"

Rika suddenly starts to cry, but not from the pain, but from the sadness she feels for the land.

She shouts "please, miss Tenshi, you're hurting the land! Stop this!"

Tenshi shouts "I'll stop as soon as I get you!"

Rika continues to dodge with ease, but the land around her continues to suffer. She wants to save the land, ease its pain, heal it!

Her desire to save the land is very strong, and to this she gets an answer.

She dodges Tenshi's destructive beam once more, and once safely away her skirt glows then rises up.

Rika loses her concentration, thus losing her heightened state, when she shrieks and holds her skirt from rising some more.

Suddenly, from her apron, her new 5th spell card rises right in front of her, glowing white in front of Rika's eyes, and with a gentle smile Rika grabs it and says "thank you... Life Sign Revitalize no Shugohoujin Ryu!"

Tenshi shouts "WHAT! YOU CHEATER!" losing her concentration and cancelling her own spell card.

Rika's sword spins around her, then Rika grabs it and points the tip of her sword to a 45 degree angle to the ground, then spins around, creating a circle around herself.

She stabs the center of the circle and chants fast, making magic marks and seals draw out inside and around the circle, creating a large magical circle.

Rika wills some of her own magic into the circle, making it glow bright green and expand and quickly restores the land to its former state before all the attacks and the destruction.

From every bit of nature she restores, including rocks, flowers, and grass, green danmaku orbs fly toward her and set above her head, some of these orbs almost hitting Tenshi, who yelps as she dodges them.

All the land is now healed, and above Rika is a giant green orb that takes the shape of a dragon.

Tenshi looks at that with despair in her eyes, and while trembling she shouts "no... that's not fair!"

Rika pulls her sword from the ground and while holding it with both hands she points it at Tenshi, and the dragon quickly goes straight toward the celestial, who jumps away just in time to avoid it, however the dragon quickly turns around, and just before reaching Tenshi, the celestial turns around and screams.

The dragon crashes on to Tenshi and explodes with such force, even Rika is pushed back, while Tenshi screams at the top of her lungs in agonizing pain.

After the attack finishes, Rika notices the ground around is still intact and still fully healed to perfection... except for Tenshi.

The crowd cheers and Reimu hurriedly declares "THE WINNER OF THIS MATCH IS RIKA ONKAMIKAMI!"

The crowd cheers louder, almost everyone changing Rika's name.

Rika doesn't care about this. She sheathes her sword and stumbles toward Tenshi's badly damaged body.

Tenshi smile and says "g-go ahead... kill me already..."

Rika just frowns and drops on her knees beside Tenshi, who whimpers "it hurts... It really hurts."

Using the energy left from her spell card, Rika places her hand on Tenshi while smiling innocently at her, and heals her wounds enough for Tenshi to survive, then looks to Tenshi's eyes and says "nobody kills nobody, remember?"

Tenshi looks surprised back at Rika, and while her body recovers she smiles and says "you truly are... special.", then falls out of consciousness.

By now, Reimu is besides the two fighters, calling out for Rika, and right when she stands next to Rika, the maid asks "did... did I do well... my.. my lady?"

After asking this, Rika falls to the ground, having used so much power to defeat, and heal Tenshi takes its toll on her, however Reimu is there and holds her before she falls on the ground.

Reimu smiles as she sighs with relief, then says "you did admirably."

That afternoon, on the way back home, carried by Reimu, the semi-conscious Rika thinks "my lady. Gensokyo is such a wonderful land. I want to protect it too, my lady! I will protect it along your side for as long as I am alive..."

She manages to whisper to Reimu "my lady, I love Gensokyo... and I love all my friends. I will... protect them... my lady."

Reimu first looks surprised, but then she smiles tenderly and says "I am sure you will... but first you need to rest. Come on. I'll bake you that pie while you sleep."

Reimu and Rika, accompanies by Aya, Marisa and Mima, fly through the afternoon, headed straight back to the Hakurei Shrine.

It's almost dark by the time Marisa arrive to her house.

She rushes to her basement, expecting to find the blessings complete and her gate ready, whoever, what she finds is Suwako waiting for her while sitting like a frog in the middle of the magical circle on the floor.

She turns around and says "ah, Marisa. You're finally back!"

Annoyed, Marisa asks "what's the meaning of this! Why is the gate not ready yet?"

Suwako scratches the side of her head, and looking sheepish she says "ah... about that. You see, Kanako got too drunk and made a few mistakes here and there, and now..."

Marisa face palms so hard she knocks her hat off, then asks "what the hell did she do?"

Suwako sweats and forces a smile as she says "well, the thing is, I'm doing my best to rush this, however, thanks to that drunkard, we'll have to wait two more weeks before we can open this."

Marisa's eyes hide under a dark shadow as an ominous aura surrounds her.

Suwako sweats and quickly and nervously she says "well, I'll be going now. See you later, and do remember we didn't help you, bye!"

The door to Marisa's house bursts open as Suwako hurriedly flies out of the house, flapping her arms around and clenching her eyes while she uses a lot of strength while doing so.

From behind her comes Marisa holding her Hakkero and shouting "hey, wait! You forgot you PARTING GIFT!"

Marisa points her Hakkero while running, and a golden washtub falls on her head, knocking her down HARD to the ground, making her slide on her face on the ground until she finally stops.

Lifting her face, now full of small cuts and bruises and looking a little red, Marisa says "oww~! Tha... that joke's getting really old... da.... da-ze!" then lets her face drop on the ground.

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Kyo and Luna were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami and her spell cards were created by Snapshot 2010

Assistance in this chapter by Snapshot 2010

MAR 6 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

**A/N:**

**Hello again. Again I would like to thank those who show their support and leave comment/reviews. I really appreciate it. And also thanks to those who read this and enjoy the story. Now, before I start working on chapter 5, I would like to liven myself up and work on another chapter for my "Touhou Random Mishaps", AND going to try and update more of my first work "Misplaced Sukima". I'm doing this in order to keep myself fresh and because honestly, we all need a good laugh, and a few mishaps around the Hakurei Shrine should do just that.**

**This was a fun challenge for me, as I had to make things happen here while this big battle takes place. Not to mention I really wanted to see how well I could do an emotional scene like that memory... Wow... a child... Now poor Marisa will have to wait just 2 more weeks before opening that gate. Well cheer up Marisa. You'll get your chance still. Ah, I'm blabbing again. Now I'll leave you to read Rika's spells and skills meanings in english *smile* Hope you have enjoyed this chapter, and don't worry, I won't take TOO long with chapter 5.**

**Rika's Skills:**

**"Resshintenshou" means "Rending Quake" as it has no curtain patterns to it, which confuses the enemy with each strike of the moves, thus making it Rending.**

**"Dankuuken" means "Severing Wind"**

**"Senraiga" means "Thunder's Shocker Feat"**

**"Souryuu Rengazan" means "Dragon Swarm"**

**Rika's Spell Cards:**

**Earth sign "Ressaishouha" means "Earth Sign Crushing Eagle"**

**Wind sign "Neppa Senpuujin "Wind Sign Searing Gale"**

**Thunder Sign "Indignation no Shouou Jin'eizan" means "Thunder Sign Divine Thunder Assault of Indignation"**

**Fire & Water Sign "Embraco Endo no Zeppa Juujishou" Fire & Water sign "Final Cross that Embraces the End"**

**Life Sign "Revitalize no Shugohoujin Ryu" means Life sign "Dragon Guardian Field of Revitalize"**


	5. Chapter 5

Two weeks have passed since the battle between Tenshi and Rika.

The trees are now full of leaves and flowers are starting to bloom. All that it's needed to officially declare spring is the coming of Lily White.

It is morning, and at the back of the Hakurei Shrine, to the left side of the storage house, Tenshi finishes the greenhouse she promised to build for Rika if she lost their match.

Rika approaches her with a wide and innocent smile on her face and offers her some tea, saying "it looks wonderful miss Tenshi. Thank you very much!"

Tenshi turns to Rika, quickly grabs the teacup on the plate and drinks it in one gulp, then says "yeah, yeah, whatever. Just... enjoy."

Tenshi is about to leave, then Rika holds her shoulder and asks "won't you stay a little longer?"

Tenshi trembles for a moment, but then blushes and while keeping her face hidden from Rika she says "n-no. I got somewhere to be now. I'll.... whatever.", then quickly flies away.

Reimu approaches Rika and with a smile on her face she says "seems you made a friend out of that celestial."

Rika shakes her head, then says "not until she says so herself. For now she's just a good acquaintance."

Reimu chuckles and says "oh, I don't think you'll need to wait long for that."

As Reimu says this, high up in the sky, Tenshi smiles tenderly as she reaches the path to heaven.

Back at the shrine, Reimu places a hand on Rika's shoulder and says "come on. Let's go look for some nice flowers for your new greenhouse."

Meanwhile, at Marisa's house, Marisa paces around her basement, anxiously awaiting any sign signaling the gate is ready to be opened.

She walks to one of her books and passes one finger around the open page, then there is a sudden loud click and divine wind blows from the white stones.

Marisa smiles, then says "finally."

At the same time, above Ail's house, Lily White unleashes her danmaku and shouts "it's SRPING~!" while approaching the door.

She reaches for the doorknob, but it turns on its own, and out comes Ran, who looks curiously at Lily, then asks "oh, a little fairy. Have you come to play a prank here?"

Lily stares confused at first, but then she smiles and raises her hands in the air, saying "it's SPRING!"

Ran opens her eyes wide and exclaims "oh my, it's the fairy of spring."

She continues to look at Lily, then asks "but what would you be doing here, I wonder?"

Lily raises her hands again, and with a smile on her face she exclaim "AIL~!"

Ran quickly lowers her ears and frowns, then says "I... I'm sorry, but Ail is not..."

Lily pushes her way through with her innocent smile in her face as she exclaims "Ail! Ail~! It's spring!"

Lily looks around and spots Chen sleeping on the couch next to a math book and some pencils, then notices some loud snoring coming from Ail's room.

Lily's smile vanishes, then she softly says "not Ail?"

The looks back to Ran, who sadly sighs and says "I'm serious, little fairy. He's not here."

Lily's smile completely vanishes, however she still doesn't believe Ran, then moves further inside, finding Budou sitting on a corner of the storage room with Phredia flying around her. The elf fairy looks tired and her usual glow seems very dim.

Lily approaches Budou and softly asks "Ail?"

Budou opens her wings, revealing herself in an unkempt state, then whispers "miss... Lily White?"

Lily stares into Budou's tear-filled eyes, then again asks "It's spring.... where is Ail?"

Budou sobs, so Phredia rushes to her, then Budou says "I don't want to sleep!"

She looks at Lily and cries as she says "papa is gone. He's not coming back..."

Her tears worsen as her heart feels heavier every time she says that.

Lily approaches Budou and looks straight into her puffy, reddish eyes and realizes the little youkai isn't lying.

The fairy trembles a she backs away from Budou, whispering "no... Ail? No?"

Budou starts to cry, then Lily drops to her knees as she stares at the floor, her eyes trembling along with herself.

Without realizing it, Lily cries along with Budou, only realizing this after letting out a sob.

Ran stands by the doorway and looks toward Ail's room, then thinks "stupid human... Look what you have caused. Come back and see your mistake, you fool! Ease their hearts."

-

Morning in the outside world.

Inside a dark abandoned warehouse, a dark figure lies sitting on a high metal rail with his back against some railings, covering himself with dirty newspapers and glaring back to the shadows.

A little bit of light that shines through one of the few windows reveals Ail's face, covered only by a few newspapers, and another figure right in front of Ail, glaring back through purple glasses with a smile on his face.

Some blood courses through Ail's arm as he continues to glare, then thinks "my name is... My name... I can't remember my name, but... I do know people call me Ail. I don't understand why these damned humans are after me. I do remember a solar eclipse... but after that... They are accusing me of harming some humans and their children with my magic, which these fools call 'special effects'. All I want is for them to leave me ALONE, but they chase me everywhere I go! I can't rest!"

The man in shadows asks "aren't you running away again?"

Ail continues to glare and thinks "I am tired... so tired. All I want to be left alone, but these stupid humans just hunt me down all the time... this one in particular. What's worse, they got these loud weapons that sting an hurt so badly. The worst part is the black stingers they shoot at me are very small and stay inside my skin... they hurt. I can't take this anymore! I don't even understand what I did wrong!"

Ail pushes away the dirty paper he was using as a cover, revealing his bloodied, dirty and tattered clothes then says to the other figure "I can't take this anymore. Just kill me already."

The man grins as Ail thinks "this world is horrible. They treat nature as if it were a nuisance, and to them magic and faith are just words. Fools. I wonder how are they even alive without faith. That reminds me... of a place... No, maybe I imagined it? Strangely, I feel as though I know place full of nature and beauty, and the some gods live there too... You won't find gods out here. People don't have faith in them... Bah! The place I'm thinking of is probably the afterlife. I'll be glad to go there, I'm sure."

The shady man sighs, then says "no. I don't want to kill you just yet. I want to make you suffer, hear you scream in pain before I finally let you die... and now... Ail... The fun starts."

Outside the warehouse, the police surround the building, and one of the officials, using a megaphone, says "Ail we know you are in there. Come on out with your hands up!"

Ayalina walks out of one of the police cars and takes the megaphone, saying "give me that!" then places it near her face and says "Ail, sweetheart, this is your mother. Please come on out! These men have agreed not to harm you, but you have to come out!"

There is a loud bang and a purple flash from inside the warehouse that startles the police, all shouting in unison as they rush toward the abandoned building, however Ayalina quietly smiles.

-

In Gensokyo, Lily slowly flies away from Ail's house, slumping while in the air and weakly saying "spring" and sniffling.

Inside the house, after a long bath, Ran is helps Budou dress up, and after putting on her brown dress Ran asks "Budou, sweetie, is something wrong?"

Budou's eyes hide under her hair as she looks toward the bathroom wall, then whispers something.

Ran gets closer and asks "what was that, sweetie?"

Budou lifts her head, showing great determination in her eyes, then says "Lily! I need to catch Lily and get to mama! We are getting papa home!"

Ran looks surprised at the little youkai as she's suddenly filled with so much strength and will, and since Ran doesn't do anything quickly enough, Budou grabs her pink socks and quickly puts them on, then her whistle which she quickly places around her neck then hides it under her dress and says "this can't wait! Come on!"

Chen is already by the exit and saying "you two slowpokes need to keep up!"

Budou, Chen and Ran lift to the sky and fly straight toward the Hakurei Shrine.

Meanwhile, at the shrine, Reimu and Rika carry a box each, both filled with many flowers and plants.

Reimu says "so nice of Yuka and Elly to just give us all these flowers."

Rika laughs nervously and says "my lady, you threatened to seal their... huh?"

Sitting on the ground by the new greenhouse, while wile rubbing her crying eyes, Lily sobs and sniffles as she looks up to the sky.

Reimu says "oh... that's the fairy of spring, Lily White. What's wrong with her?"

Before Reimu finishes her question, Rika is already headed toward the fairy, kneeling down next to her and softly asking "miss Lily, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

Lily looks to Rika with a very sad expression and says "Ail?"

Reimu catches up and kneels next to both girls, then sighs and pats Lily's back and asks "you remember him?"

Lily slowly nods, then Reimu looks surprised and says to Rika "it's amazing that she remembers him at all. Fairies usually don't remember things as easily as us, yet she remembers Ail just like that."

Reimu stares at the fairy for a moment, then Rika stands up, grabs Lily in her arms like a child, then rubs her back and says "come on. I'll make us some tea and snacks. What do you say to that?"

Lily rests her head on Rika's shoulder and nods, then Rika lightly bows to Reimu and asks "if I may?"

Reimu stands up and nods, then says "go ahead" while thinking "she didn't attack or bite... just like when Ail first met her... though it was a bit messier back then."

Reimu follows after Rika and Lily and watches how Rika gently places Lily White next to the table, and how the fairy seems to react like a child would to her parent, then thinks "amazing... It's almost like the first time she met Ail. What do these two have that she sees in them?"

Reimu's thoughts are immediately disturbed when from the sky Budou calls "Reimu~! Lily~! Call mama~!"

Without waiting for Budou to land, Reimu runs to the Moriya shrine extension that's close by to the gate at the right side of the shrine.

Immediately she calls "Suwako! Kanako! Can you hear me?"

An image of Kanako quickly inflates like a balloon until Kanako is fully present in front of Reimu, and sounding a little bored she asks "what is it?"

Reimu quickly says "Budou's calling for Sanae!"

Kanako gasps and immediately enters the small expansion, her voice echoing as she says "she'll be there soon!"

-

Meanwhile, at the farthest end of the Forest of Magic, in the center of a small clearing where winter seems to still have a bit of a hold, as the trees and flowers there are still recovering, Marisa stands by, holding the golden whistle in her hand and smiling confidently.

She wraps one of Reimu's ribbons around her right wrist and says to herself "and to make sure this thing isn't protected against thieves, I'll use Reimu's ribbon while holding it."

She stares at the whistle for a little while, then shrugs and says "here goes nothing!", quickly taking a deep breath and blowing through the whistle, making a "tweet" sound that echoes around the area.

Nothing seems to happen, but before Marisa tires to blow through it again, purple bolts of electricity start appearing out of a rift that forms in the very middle of the clearing.

Marisa stands back, then stares at her whistle and says "oh crap! This is the REAL one!"

She looks to the rift as it violently opens up, and suddenly Ail drops from inside and falls on his back.

Marisa watches from a distance and is in shock after seeing Ail full of cuts and bruises, his clothes torn, dirty and covered in blood, and the frightened look on his eyes as he struggles to stand up.

Still not noticing her, Ail looks around, slowly relaxing himself as he says "I... I know this place."

Marisa approaches from behind him and places her hand on his shoulder, quickly noticing as he flinches, then smiling widely she says "whoa, calm down! It's just me, Marisa, ze!"

Ail narrows his eyes, focusing on Marisa's face, then says "Ma... Marisa? I... think I know you."

Marisa stares back to Ail in total disbelief, and sounding almost disappointed she says "wow, 4 months gone and you already forget you friends? I thought we were important to you?"

Ail curiously stares back as a small drop of blood courses right between his eyes, then asks "friends? I have... friends?"

Marisa pulls a white cloth from under her hat and wipes Ail's face, looking a little mad and saying "oy, are you making fun of me? Look, I called you because Reimu needs your help."

Ail feels as though his head spins for a moment, then looks at Marisa with surprise and asks "Reimu? Hakurei?"

Marisa smirks and says "I knew you were just messing with me. Come on, let's go home! Once you open a small gap for me, I'll treat you to some dinner, and then you can go home and clean yourself up. You look like a mess, da-ze."

Ail jumps away from Marisa, pain surging through his knee the moment he touches the ground again, but ignoring his pain he glares at Marisa and asks "how do you know about the gaps!?"

Marisa blinks twice, and sounding annoyed she says "wow, you really want to mess with my head, don't you? Well I'm not falling for it. Come on!"

Before Ail can back away again, Marisa grasps his hand and drags him toward her home, smiling wide and laughing, while Ail looks at her and their surroundings confused and lost.

-

At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu and Budou impatiently wait for Sanae, while Ran and Aya try to calm them down.

Rika serves tea and snacks for everyone, then walks to Lily and Phredia, who are sitting by the small living room table, then offers them the tea.

Phredia picks hers up almost immediately, but Lily stares at hers with a saddened look in her eyes, watching her reflection ripple when she touches the cup.

Rika sits beside her and brushes her back with her hand, making Lily raise her wings, then gently says "don't feel sad. Ail wouldn't like that."

Lily looks at Rika's motherly smile and stares, then Rika continues "he would want you to smile and be happy."

Lily continues to stare at Rika, who continues to smile as she says "even if he's not here, miss Lily, he would never forget you. Miss Reimu told me all about how you first met, and how you always find him, and how he treats you to tea and cookies... Memories like those live inside the heart forever... wouldn't you agree?"

Lily stares at Rika for a little while longer, then suddenly smiles back and nods, then quickly take a drink from her teacup, and as she takes a cookie, she smiles at Rika and says "when he comes back... he will see me smile..."

Rika giggles and lightly flaps her wings as her smile widens while looking at Lily.

From the entrance Budou excitedly says "mama~! Finally! Mama, come! It's papa!!"

Everyone in the shrine, except for Reimu and Ran, stare confused at Budou, and Sanae increases her speed the moment Budou mentions Ail, and quickly after landing she grabs Budou and hugs her, and while hugging her she asks "what happened? Why wouldn't you talk to me?"

Budou pushes herself away from Sanae and immediately grabs her whistle and blows on it... but nothing happens.

Sanae stares back in shock and asks "wh-wha? What does that mean?"

Budou takes a deep breath and says "Rikako and Kyo's shadow sent me news from the outside world, saying that papa had hurt other and was being searched for. It also said that there were rumors he was dead."

Sanae gasps then Budou quickly continues "when I went home to call papa back, my whistle didn't work... I..." Budou's eyes fill with tears as she says with a cracked voice "I thought papa was dead... gone forever..."

Sanae and Reimu's faces turn blue, while everyone else inside look on with surprise, except for Lily, who immediately buries her face on Rika's apron.

Budou gulps, dries her tears, then continues "but I felt him! After miss Lily left home, I felt him! He's alive, mama! He needs us! We have to call him! Give Reimu permission to call papa back!"

Sanae stares at Budou for a moment, slowly absorbing everything the little youkai had just said as she turns her stare to Reimu.

When their eyes meet, Reimu gasps and rushes to her cabinet and looks around for her whistle.

-

Meanwhile, at Marisa's house, Marisa places Ail on the exact center of the magical star on the ground. Ail asks "and are you sure if I open this I'll help?"

Marisa confidently says "of course! Just make sure you concentrate on the white stones while opening that gap!"

Ail sweats and asks "are you sure I have friends?"

Marisa laughs hard and says "Ail, enough with the jokes. Just open the gate up so we can give Reimu the life she deserves! Heck, join us and bring Sanae and Budou."

Ail twitches and thinks "Sanae... and... Budou. Budou... She's a little girl... I used to take care of... I care a lot about her..."

Ail looks determined toward the white stones and whispers "for Budou!"

He raises his right hand and points his fingers toward the white stones.

A cool wind blows from the stone themselves and Marisa watches with amazement as the stones start to glow, each sounding like a different music tone.

The star in which Ail stands starts to spin, and in the middle of the singing stones a small white tear forms, quickly extending to the roof and to the floor, then slowly expands.

Marisa excitedly shouts "alright, it's working!"

As the light expands, there is a loud whoosh, along with powerful gusts.

Marisa gets nervous and asks "wh-what's going on?"

Ail's eyes glow white and his body is turning blue.

Marisa panics and shouts "AIL! Wait, what's going on!? Ail, wake up!"

She tries to reach him, but the magical circle he is in creates a barrier that prevents her from reaching.

She clenches her teeth and loudly says "no way I'm letting you die, you fool!"

She grabs one of the books she took form the Palanquin and holds it open while chanting as loud as possible so as to be heard over the loud whooshing and the thunder from the open gate.

Marisa wills herself to push her magic to the limit, then shouts "OPEN!" The magical circle vanishes, and Marisa rushes toward Ail.

His skin is blue, his eyes are closing, and when she touches him, she feels he's as cold as ice.

She pulls out her Stardust Revere spell card, but before she declares it, there is a loud click, then the entire room glows white, and Marisa and Ail vanish, along with the thunder and the heavy gust, now only a swirling purple and black vortex remains, ever spinning and causing some light winds inside the room.

Outside the house, a magical shock wave slowly courses it's way all through Gensokyo, reaching Alice's house.

Inside, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai are having a quiet morning, but when the shock wave reaches them, though slow, it pushes them all hard against the walls and ceiling.

At the Village, the shockwave causes Keine to faint right in front of her class, and while on the ground her body slowly transforms to her beast form, however, she quickly reverts to her human form.

At the basement of the SDM, Flandre is about to exit her room, but when the shock wave touches her, her heart beats hard, her eyes glow scarlet, then suddenly she is coughing violently as she drops to the floor.

-

Meanwhile, back at the Hakurei Shrine, Satori arrives with Orin by her side, and with a very light smile she calls "hello~"

Orin cheerfully shouts "do you have any copses~!?"

Satori elbows Orin and whispers "you promised you'd behave."

Orin rubs the back of her head and nervously chuckles while saying "right... Sorry about that, nyan."

From the back, they hear Reimu shouting "found it!"

Curious, Satori and Orin head to the back, and promptly after reaching they find Reimu holding a whistle in her hand while facing toward the lake of the shrine.

Satori says "oh, seems they are summoning Ail back... But that's odd..."

Orin asks "what is it, Satori-sama?"

Rika now stands beside Satori and Orin with Lily White clinging on to her neck, and resting her head on Rika's right shoulder.

Rika exclaims "miss Satori, miss Orin! Welcome!"

Satori smiles and looks at Rika, but before she says anything, she notices Rika's eyes, staring back at her with a most saddened expression.

Rika sighs and says "miss Satori, may I have a word with you?"

Before Satori responds, the magical wave from Marisa's house reaches the shrine, and immediately, everyone, including Suika on the roof, shriek and shiver, and Reimu is even pushed to the ground by the magical force as it continues its course.

Rika quickly rushes to her mistress to help her up, concernedly calling for her. Helping Reimu up, Rika asks "what was THAT!?"

Rika looks to the shrine in concern for the others and she notices Budou trembling on Sanae's arms, then realizes Lily is also trembling violently while still holding on to Rika's neck.

After Helping Reimu up, Rika whispers to Lily "it's alright. I'm here.", and Reimu exclaims "what in blazes is going on here!?"

Phredia excitedly flies around Reimu and points at the whistle, then Sanae says "it's gone now. Please, Reimu. Call Ail."

Reimu smiles sheepishly and rubs the back of her head, saying "ah, that's right, heh heh."

She turns around to face toward the lake again, then quickly blows on the whistle.

The moment she does, the little trinket shatters, and turns to dust before it touches the ground.

Immediately, Reimu exclaims "that was a fake!?"

Budou starts to cry, and Phredia immediately rushes to her while Sanae tries to comfort her; Aya looks at Reimu with a very serious expression and says "something odd is going on around here, Reimu."

Rika approaches Reimu while holding the trembling Lily in her hands, then asks "but my lady, didn't Ail give you that himself? How can it be a fake?"

Reimu scratches the side of her head, and while she does, Ran, who is holding the shivering Chen says "someone else has the real whistle!"

Reimu nods and says "and whoever that is, he or she is going to be in a WORLD of pain... But when could this have happened? I've had the whistle with me at all times...?"

Before Anyone else can speak, the voice if Shikieiki echoes all over the shrine "Hakurei maiden, guardian of paradise. You are needed."

Just like that, a beam of light slowly comes down from the sky and surrounds Reimu, and before she disappears she says "I'll be back later. Take care of the shrine, Ri..."

Even after Reimu is gone, Rika bows her head and says "will do, my lady."

-

Marisa wakes up inside a dark room where everything looks like waves of purple energy bands, and as she looks around, and the only difference she can see is a small white light.

She kneels and immediately calls "Ail~! Where are you!!?"

Nobody answers, and after she stands up on her feet, the room turns into a tunnel with black floors and walls, and the roof is made out of the purple energy bands that surrounded her before, and at the end of this tunnel is the bright light.

Marisa sees nowhere else to go, so as she walks toward the light she thinks "maybe he's over here. I mean, there's nowhere else to go."

As she gets closer to the light she realizes it looks just like the gate she had made back home, and after getting close enough, she cups her hands in front of her mouth and shouts "Ail, are you there!?! Ail, answer me!"

When nobody answers back, Marisa feels a cold chill wrap itself around her heart, then her feet start moving involuntarily faster and faster until she's running toward the white gate, remembering Ail's state just before the light took them.

Images of Ail lying dead somewhere fill her head, making her feel more tense, her heart beating faster, breathing becoming a chore, and finally, she can't take it and screams out loud "Ail, dammit, ANSWER ME! Are you alive!?"

She is finally crosses the gate of light in a rush, ignoring the bright flash and high-pitched whirring sound as she crosses through, and when she stops, she finds herself in a vast land where nature grows much like Gensokyo, but to her surprise, the trees there are a hundred, maybe even a thousand times larger than the trees in Gensokyo.

One flower looks big enough to house at least 5 human families, rocks look like mountain, roads seem like oceans, and to the distance Marisa notices even larger rock formations. Mountains of many kinds of minerals and crystals, all emanating a magical aura.

Marisa gasps and whispers "we... we made it... Ail, we made it! We've reached..."

She looks around herself and remembers Ail is missing.

She lowers her hat and says to herself "Marisa, you idiot... He's not here. Dammit, Sanae's going to kill me... and Budou..."

Marisa's thoughts are cut short by a thunderous roar and a giant shadow.

She gasps and runs behind the mountainous rock close by, and when she looks up, there is a second roar, and a third, and very suddenly, the sky is full of dragons, all headed toward the magical mountains, one yellow, one black with a red abdomen, two blue ones, five green, and one black and white dragon with the symbol of the yin-yang orb plain on its abdomen.

Each dragon takes a large bite off the tip of the mountains, and shortly after they do, the mountains restore themselves, ready to feed the large number of dragons headed their way.

Marisa's eyes tremble as she watches in secret, and while shivering she whispers to herself "dragons... This is a paradise... for dragons."

Before she can think any further, she finds herself floating just above the ground as a white beam surrounds her, and in a flash, she is gone.

-

Marisa now finds herself sitting behind a brown desk inside a large dark dome.

She looks around and asks "now where am I?"

In front of her, a deep roaring voice shouts "SILENCE!!!"

Marisa winces as she turns to look forward, then gasps when she sees a tall podium in front of her, and sitting on that podium is Shikieiki Yamaxanadu, the yama of paradise.

Marisa shivers as she asks "um, hey, miss yama. How are ya?"

From Shikieiki's left, hidden in shadow, is a thin and tall figure that speaks in an elegant and calm tone of voice says "well how rude. This girl addresses you as if you were just another commoner, Yamaxanadu."

Another figure in shadow, this one large and bulky, speaks in a deep and wise voice "she is human. You can expect no less of these creatures."

From Shiki's immediate right, another figure hides in shadow; this one looks curvy and has 3 pair of hands, and in a seductive tone of voice, she says "maybe we should just devour her soul right now, or just torture her for an eternity or two."

Marisa chuckles nervously and asks "wh-what's going on here?"

From Shikieiki's far right, a large and bulky figure growls and breaths some fire, momentarily revealing a red, scaly lizard face, and in a rage, with his deafening thunderous voice, he bangs on the table in front of himself and tries to get closer to Marisa, revealing himself as a red bulky dragon in a suit, shouting "you stupid human! Do you realize what you have DONE!!!?"

The surge of power this yama emanates seems to crush Marisa's very spirit. As the yama backs away, Marisa feels relief, she is able to breathe again, and foolishly asks "what's all this about?"

The calm yama says "you dare ask questions to us?"

The seductive yama adds "we should begin torturing your existence this very moment!"

The wise yama calmly says "Yamaxanadu, what are we waiting around here for?"

Finally, Shikieiki bangs her podium hard with her sword, and in a strict tone of voice she says "this... is my courtroom. You are here a guests of this living trial. You agreed to abide to my decisions, regardless of what you may think."

The dragon immediately says "and don't you forget, this human has threatened ALL our worlds!"

Shikieiki calmly nods and says "I haven't forgotten. However, this problem also belongs to the one in charge of guarding this paradise, and until she arrives we all stand by."

After saying this, Shikieiki glances at Marisa, revealing a small glint of worry in her eyes.

Marisa still doesn't understand what exactly is going on, getting nervous with every passing second, then suddenly, to her far left, away from the podium, another beam of light falls from the roof, this one carrying Reimu inside of it, and once Reimu fully materializes, she opens her eyes and stares at Marisa.

Reimu looks around for a moment and is about to ask the reason of her sudden summoning, but when she looks to the podium, she immediately drops on her knees and bows to the ground, her forehead almost touching the floor as she says "your graces..."

When Marisa sees this happen, her face turns white as her eyes widen and her pupils shrink as she thinks "no... Reimu!"

-

Shikieiki lightly bangs on her podium with her sword and says "the trial may begin. Marisa Kirisame, you are being tried today for two atrocities committed today in the course of two hours. The first being the intrusion in the ascension of the soul known as Anilan Inmodo Leuch, by summoning him to this world by force, through means... of this."

Shikieiki pulls out a small golden whistle from her pocket and says "Reimu Hakurei, rise and please tell us if you know of this item."

On the ground, after hearing the first accusation, Reimu's eyes tremble as she opens them wide, her pupils almost disappearing from her eyeballs as she thinks "did she just mention Ail? What just happened, Marisa!?"

Reimu slowly rises to her feet with a casual look in her eyes and looks at the whistle. She sighs softly and says "yes. That item was given to me by Ail himself, to call him back to Gensokyo in case of an emergency."

Shikieiki looks at Marisa, then says "I am displeased to inform you that Marisa Kirisame made a copy of this whistle and summoned Ail on her own, and although unknowingly, she destroyed everything for which Ail had suffered so much."

Marisa suddenly shouts "hey! First of all, I MEANT to return the real whistle, and SECONDLY, I swear, I tried to save him... he..."

Marisa realizes the aura around all 5 yamas turns red, making their presence unbearable, making her feel as though her body could suddenly explode, then in a calm, yet strict tone, the wise yama says "it would be wise to speak ONLY when spoken to, little human. We will not suffer another interruption, so please keep this in mind."

The Dragon yama suddenly shouts "YOU FOOL! You used that soul for you OWN selfish purposes!!"

Shikieiki immediately adds "your friend Ail was undergoing a trial of life in order to ascend to a new level of enlightment, miss Kirisame. When you summoned him like you did, all those trials, all that suffering he went through, everything he had done and gone through became null. He couldn't reach his goal, and is now wandering in darkness. All thanks to you."

Marisa feels shame. She wants to hide her face under her hat, but when she reaches for it, Shiki says "please remove it", which she does, revealing despair and shame inside her eyes.

She looks to Reimu, hoping to get some support, but Reimu continues to stare at the yamas while keeping her face as expressionless as possible.

Inside her mind, Reimu thinks "Marisa, you idiot! What have you done!? Why!? W-what should I do?"

Shikieiki continues "the second reason, is perhaps the most grievous of the two offenses. Marisa Kirisame..."

The dragon yama beats Shikieiki to it and as he shouts his entire aura becomes a ball of flames "this HUMAN opened a portal into the dragon's paradise!"

Shikieiki bangs her hammer hard on the podium and shouts "I WILL HAVE ODER!"

Reimu can't hide the surprise in her face. Marisa looks at Reimu and notices the great surprise, while Reimu looks back to Marisa, feeling terror, rage and betrayal.

She can feel a tear escaping her left eye, but using her will she prevents it from falling, then she quickly turns her face away from Marisa, who continues to look on with hopes of finding comfort in Reimu.

Once the yamas settle down, Shikieiki continues "as I was saying... yes, Marisa has linked these two paradises by means of a most complex set of spells and ancient magic. She used Ail's ability to open gaps in order to open the gate to this paradise. Now Ail's consciousness is trapped between the two worlds while his body lies somewhere either in Gensokyo, or the dragon's world."

Reimu's entire body trembles, her rage taking over all her other senses as she thinks "Marisa!!! You stupid witch!!! What the HELL am I supposed to tell BUDOU, Sanae, and Lily... and EVERYONE!??"

Shikieiki then adds "that is not all. If this link between these two worlds isn't severed, there could be dire consequences that not only affect Gensokyo, but every world, every planet, every REALITY, and even existence itself. If left open for too long, that void will consume us all."

The seductive yama points at Marisa and says "I say we trap her soul in the void between realities for a few eternities!"

The calm yama says "I say we throw her in hell and have her body dipped into the fiery pits for a millennia."

The dragon yama shouts "I say you leave her judging to ME!"

The wise yama asks "Yamaxanadu... what is your verdict?"

Shikieiki closes her eyes and hides her mouth behind her sword, then looks straight at Marisa and says "this girl values magic, almost as much as she values friendship. For her crimes, I find her guilty! And as for her punishment..."

Shikieiki raises her right hand and summons a large white orb with a padlock that has a large keyhole on it and looks as though is made of clouds inside the orb, and flying around the large orb are 5 smaller colored orbs; red, blue, green, yellow and white, all flying around the larger orb, making it look like an atom.

Shikieiki continues "...her magic will be sealed. She will be, from this day forth, just another regular human."

Marisa gasps and shouts "wait a minute! That's not fair... that's... urk!"

Marisa feels as though she is being strangled, then Shikieiki shouts "release her!"

The dragon yama scoffs, then shouts "her punishment is NOT satisfying!"

He looks at Marisa, then at Reimu, then smiles and says "let HER do the sealing."

The other three yamas immediately agree, sounding almost too happy about it, while Shikieiki continues to hide her mouth behind her sword.

She sighs and says "very well. Hakurei Maiden, please raise your right hand."

Reimu unwillingly but obediently raises her hand, and the orb Shikieiki was holding materializes there, then Shikieiki says "I will entrust you with the task of sealing Marisa's magic, and finding a way to close off this void. Use any means necessary to accomplish this, Reimu. There is too much at stake."

Reimu lightly bows her head, and seemingly calm she says "I will do as requested of me."

Marisa stares back at Reimu, feeling a mixture of unsettling emotions while thinking "no! This is a JOKE! Reimu wasn't supposed to go through this! This wasn't supposed to happen! Marisa, if this is a nightmare, you need to WAKE UP!"

Shikieiki bangs her sword on the podium and says "this trial is now over. You are dismissed.", and with that, two beams of light fall on Reimu and Marisa, and quickly the both vanish from sight.

Immediately after they leave, the yamas start to argue, starting with the dragon yama, who gruffly says "you were too lenient on that human! Yamaxanadu, you remember your you place!"

Shikieiki turns around and angrily says "you will respect MY decision when in MY courtroom!"

The other three yamas bow their heads and vanish from sight, however the dragon yama stays behind and offers his hand to Shikieiki.

Komachi rushes from the shadows and threateningly stands between the two yamas, glaring at the bulky dragon.

Shikieiki says "stand aside!"

Concernedly, Komachi turns to face Shiki and says "but he's..."

Shikieiki nods while looking back with a very serious and determined look, then Komachi hesitantly backs away.

The dragon yama smiles as Shikieiki extends her tiny hand to his bulky thick hand, then they shake.

Once the dragon releases Shikieiki her hand is burned to a crisp, and with a smile on his face he says "don't... forget... your place... yama of paradise.", then vanishes.

The instant the dragon leaves the courtroom, Shikieiki looks to the concerned Komachi and says "let's move! We have much to do!"

Komachi concernedly asks "what about that hand?"

Shikieiki, though under a lot of pain, turns to Komachi with a smile and says "it'll heal. Come, we have a lot to do. I just hope we're not late."

-

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, Rika approaches Satori, who sits by the shrine porch, then says "m-miss Satori, could I have a word with you, i-if it's alright?"

Satori looks neutrally at the smiling maid, then nods.

They stand next to Rika's still empty greenhouse, then Rika suddenly drops on her knees and bows to Satori, repeatedly apologizing, while Satori panics and says "wah-wait, what are you doing there? Stop that!"

Rika raises her head and gives Satori a hug while slowly flapping her wings, then says "I'm so sorry for the pain I caused you and Petal. I am so very sorry, miss Satori. Please, forgive me!"

Satori wonder what's happening, asking "wait, what are you talking...?", but after reading Rika's heart she sighs and says "I see. So you remember."

Rika lets go of Satori, and while still kneeling she turns her face away and nods, then says "and I know I wasn't really myself, but... what I did, the way I acted. It's inexcusable."

Satori sighs again and pats Rika's head, making her turn her face again and slowly flap her wings, then the youkai looks back into Rika's eyes and says "Rika Onkamikami... that's a very nice name. Understand that what happened, happened. It's in the past now. You really weren't yourself, and I know this all too well. I can read hearts, and this you know, right?"

Rika slowly nods, then Satori continues "you're a very nice person, Rika, and I didn't want to burden your mind with this. The real you would have never done that. THIS... is why I chose to cover for you. NOT because I pitied you, NOT because you have a pretty face. It's because of your beautiful heart."

Rika stares back to Satori, wanting to ask something, however Satori beats her to it and says "so you truly wonder if I really forgive you?"

Rika looks a little surprised, but then nods. Satori smiles and says "well here I am... accepting your apology with a smile. Isn't that enough?"

Rika looks back at Satori, then smiles and reaches into the pocket of her apron, pulling out a necklace with a triangular green stone on the center, then says "could you please give this to little Petal... as an apology for the trouble I caused her?"

Satori accepts the necklace and admires it with wonderment and amazement, then says "this is beautiful. Thank you Rika. I am sure Petal will love this... Green is one of her favorite colors."

Rika giggles and says "the color of nature."

Satori smiles, then says "right. Now, miss Rika, I would like you to come visit us sometime. I am sure Petal will want to thank you for this gift."

Rika smiles as she nods and happily flaps her wings.

Meanwhile, inside the Shrine, both Budou and Lily sits beside each other, sighing sadly while Sanae blows on Budou's whistle over and over.

Ran approaches the girls, then says to Sanae "miss Sanae please, that's enough."

Sanae sighs, then says "alright... Heh, now that he needs help, there is nothing I can do for him."

She hands the whistle to Phredia, who flies by Sanae's side just as she's about to drop the whistle, then takes it back to Budou, immediately hiding behind the little youkai's hair.

Ran kneels down and places a hand on Sanae's shoulder, then says "miss Sanae, don't say such things."

Before Ran can continue, Budou suddenly gasps and yelps, quickly followed by Lily White, both looking at each other with an excited expression, then Budou shouts "papa~!!", at the same time, Lily shouts "Ail~!!"

Both Sanae and Ran look with surprise at the girls, then Sanae asks "what is it?"

Budou hurriedly shouts "it's papa!", then she and Lily run outside the shrine and immediately fly away.

By the time Rika approaches Sanae and asks "what's going on?", Chen is following after Budou and Lily, saying "come on you slowpokes!"

Ran and Sanae look at each other, then Ran flies after the girls, and just before Sanae flies away, she says "I think Budou knows something about Ail!"

Rika watches as they all fly away and shouts "good luck~!"

After that, Satori sighs and says "I guess I better get going too. Miss Rika, please think about what I said. Don't beat yourself up like this."

Rika silently bows, then softly says "thank you, miss Satori."

Satori lets out half a smile, then turns around and heads toward the shrine's gates, where she calls "Orin, time to go home."

Orin is curled asleep on the shrine's donation box, and immediately after hearing her master's call, she stretches and opens her eyes, then flies after her master, saying "that was a very good nap."

The shrine is now quiet, as the only ones left are Rika, who heads toward her greenhouse after everyone leaves, Mima, and Aya, who are drinking sake while sitting on the floor next to the doors to Reimu's room, and Suika, who's fallen asleep while soaking in the hot spring.

-

At Marisa's house, two beams of light fall from the sky, dropping off Reimu and Marisa in front of the house.

Marisa sighs with relief and says "boy... th-that was scary, huh Reimu..?"

From behind, a thick and ominous aura reaches Marisa's senses, making her heart beat faster than ever, an inexplicable amount of fear taking over her entire body.

With the look of terror in her eyes, she turns around to see Reimu, having pulled her Ribbon off and glaring with tear-filled raging eyes, shouting "MARISA~~~!"

Marisa's breathes uncontrollably fast, her movements feel clumsy at best, and her heart is beating so fast it makes her entire body hurt.

She crawls as fast as she can away from Reimu, in a pathetic attempt to run away, then hides just behind a tree, escaping many amulets headed her way; so many in fact, they cover the entire tree.

Reimu screams loud and the tree turns into dust with a flash of light.

Marisa's breathing turns faster, now having to breathe through her mouth, unable to do so through her nose, her voice escaping in a whimper as she crawls as fast as she can behind another tree.

Summoning all her will she manages to shout to Reimu, sounding almost as though she's crying "REIMU!!! CALM DOWN!!! REIMU LISTEN!!!"

Reimu shouts back with all her rage "MARISA!!!"

She takes a deep breath and seemingly more calm she says "I told you from the FIRST TIME YOU TOLD ME!!! Don't open that gate! NOW LOOK WHAT YOU DID! You got the YAMAS involved! You destroyed Ail!"

Reimu unleashes giant bouncing blue yin-yang orbs without first declaring her spell card, all bouncing straight at the witch, however disappearing after impacting the tree, making it bend down and almost crushing Marisa underneath.

To this Marisa screams "REIMU!!! I SWEAR I DIDN'T MEAN THIS!!! REIMU!!!"

Now sounding like she's holding back tears, Reimu shouts "Do you have ANY IDEA the position I'm in now!? I HAVE... TO SEAL YOU! Why did you do this to me, Marisa!?!? You disappear for almost a year for THIS!? I MISSED YOU! I really missed you, you idiot! But..."

Reimu's tone of voice suddenly changes to a calm, yet ominous tone as she says "now I have to seal away all your powers... my friend... my dear Marisa..."

Suddenly everything turns quiet, except for Marisa's heavy breathing.

Slowly, the witch calms down and manages to regain some control over her body.

She peeks around the left side of the broken tree and notices Reimu is gone.

She takes a deep breath and crawls out from underneath the tree, then sits next to it, then starts to think "this is wrong... this is all so wrong."

Tears escape her eyes as she thinks "I wanted to help you, Reimu... not hurt you...!"

From her left, with her leg surrounded in and orange energy, Reimu kicks Marisa straight on the side of the head, sending her flying against another tree, where she bangs her head hard and drops to the ground semi-conscious.

Trying, but failing to hold back her tears, Reimu slowly approaches Marisa, holding the magical seal entrusted to her by the yamas.

She hesitates as she looks into the narrowly open eyes of her friend and notices the bit of blood from a cut on her head her own kick caused.

Reimu closes her eyes, and in a forced move she places the seal on Marisa's chest, where it sinks straight inside her, sealing away all her magical powers with an ominous dark-blue glow that surrounds Marisa's body.

Reimu turns around and opens her eyes again, trying to avoid looking into Marisa's slightly open eyes.

Marisa softly says "Re-Reimu... so.... rry~!"

Reimu's heart can only take so much and start to cry inconsolably, many thoughts coursing through her mind.

She drags Marisa's semi-conscious body back inside the house and looks toward the basement, sniffling and stopping her tears.

With a furious look she rushes to the basement and grabs all the books she finds in there while doing her best to ignore the swirling vortex that seems to be blowing some cool air.

After coming back up she crosses over Marisa's body, which she left on the floor in the middle of the living room, and just before closing the exit door she whispers "you idiot... Listen to me for once.", slams the door shut and flies away.

-

Meanwhile, at the Myouren Temple's large bath, Minamitsu is enjoying a relaxing soak at the artificial spring.

Her soak is disturbed by a loud buzzing sound. A rift violently opens up right above the other side of the spring, then Ail drops from inside.

Minamitsu screams loud, then summons a large anchor, getting up from under the water, holding the anchor above her head while somehow wearing a tower around herself, then shouts "you nasty little pervert, what the hell do you think you are..."

Very suddenly, Minamitsu's mood changes from aggravated to concerned as she asks "wait a minute. Ail? Is that you!?"

Blood and dirt from Ail's body starts staining the clean waters, so Minamitsu grabs him and pulls him out, then stares at him.

He's not moving at all. Minamitsu gasps and says "holy crap, man overboard!"

Outside, Budou and Lily are speaking to Byakuren, Budou desperately saying "papa is here, miss Byakuren! Please, let us look for him!" Lily quietly nods after Budou says this.

Byakuren sweats and says "but... I've been here all day and I haven't see him."

They hear Minamitsu's bloody scream, then Byakuren gasps and says "that's Mini-chan!", at the same time as Budou and Lily exclaim "papa Ail!"

The three girls run toward the bathroom, and after bursting through the door they find Minamitsu wearing her towel, sitting on Ail's abdomen while pushing against his chest and suddenly placing her mouth on Ail's, then shouting "BREATHE DAMMIT!!!"

Byakuren blushes beet red and covers Budou and Lily's eyes, then nervously says "Mi-Mini-chan, what are you doing there!?"

Minamitsu turns around, revealing a very concerned and agitated look on her face, then shouts "this is NO time for misunderstandings, Hijiri!"

Byakuren looks at Ail's body, then let go of Budou and Lily's eyes and rushes to his body, saying "stand aside!"

After Minamitsu rushes back to the water, Byakuren inspects Ail's body, then quickly punches his chest hard, making him cough and gasp for air.

Minamitsu exclaims "whoa! Effective!"

Sanae, Ran and Chen enter the room just as Ail dizzily sits back up, then Sanae gasps and exclaims "AIL!?"

Budou and Lily stand beside him, then suddenly Budou jumps on him and gives him a hug, shouting "PAPA~!", followed by Lily, who does the same while shouting "AIL~!"

Minamitsu exhales, then says "so much for a relaxing bath.", and just like that, a silver washtub falls on her head, sinking her face in to water.

-

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia and Petal were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

MAR 12 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N**

**Honestly, I want to say, this chapter took a while to write. Had to take breaks while doing so, especially in the high tension parts... Wait, this entire chapter is high tension, but that's why I thought about it hard and decided to have the washtub fall down on someone to lighten to mood.**

**Again, thank you for reading and showing your support, and for leaving your comments/reviews. I makes me glad to see people are actually enjoying these stories, and I'm also glad to know they even help inspire others to write as well.**


	6. Chapter 6

So much has happened in the course of a few hours. Worlds forcefully joint; fate destroyed; lives shattered; bonds broken. Amongst all of this, there is still some hope... One little glimmer left inside a single person...

At the Scarlet Devil Mansion, concerned after missing Flandre during breakfast, and still missing her when it's so close to lunch time, Sakuya Izayoi decides to investigate and heads down to young Flandre's room in the basement, and while she investigates Remilia sleeps ever so peacefully in her own room.

Sakuya passes by Patchouli's library, just as Patchouli walks out and says "it appears Koakuma will be out for a bit."

Sakuya stops and bows, then replies "whatever that was, it knocked out almost all of the fairy maids, and left Meiling on edge."

Patchouli stares at Sakuya, then asks "what about Remilia?"

Sakuya smiles sheepishly and sweats as she says "well, I found her flying in her sleep."

Patchouli narrow her eyes and asks "and what about you, miss chief maid?"

Sakuya blushes in embarrassment, then says "I... I'm too ashamed to say!"

As she says this, she thinks of the bathroom door with an "Occupied" sign on it as a fog-horn plays its loud "toot".

Patchouli stares into Sakuya's eyes, then blinks once and says "that shockwave affected everyone differently, it seems."

Sakuya quickly says "that's why I'm headed to Flandre's room. She hasn't come out all day."

Patchouli hums, then says "I'm coming with you."

Sakuya lightly bows and says "much appreciated, lady Patchouli."

Now the two girls head toward Flandre's room at the end of the basement while Remilia starts to moan and clench her eyes while in the comfort of her own bed, as if experiencing a nightmare.

Sakuya and Patchouli arrive to Flandre's room, and right after placing her hand on the doorknob, Sakuya says "something's not right."

Sakuya slowly turns the knob and prepares herself for anything, but immediately after opening the door she finds out the room is empty, all of Flandre's things destroyed.

Sakuya gasps and says "oh no, she reverted!"

When she turns around, she gasps in horror upon finding Patchouli on the ground with Flandre sitting on top of her, talking in a twisted tone of voice as she strangles the magician, saying "you are not onee-sama! Where is onee-sama!"

Sakuya instinctively shouts "Patchouli! Flan! Flandre, let her go!"

Flandre releases Patchouli's neck, leaving her unconscious on the floor, and turns around to face Sakuya, revealing a pair of black eyes with red pupils staring back at her with hatred.

Sakuya gasps as Flandre asks "how do you know my name! You killed her, didn't you! You're the vampire hunter... you killed ONEE-SAMA!"

Flandre hisses as she launches straight at Sakuya and then...

At Remilia's room, Remilia suddenly wakes up and looks at her hand, noticing the symbol of a watch glowing.

She gasps and rushes out the door, reaching the mansion's foyer and finding Sakuya running up the stairs in a hurry.

When Sakuya sees Remilia, she shouts "it's Flandre!"

Right in front of Sakuya, breaking the stairs from underneath while looking like a big blur, Flandre flies up and stops for a second and uses a wall to impulse herself toward Sakuya, readying her claws for a swift kill, but Remilia easily intercepts her, blocking her attack with ease with her own claws and calmly says "Flandre, you are out of control. I want you to go back to your room!"

Turning back to normal, Flandre says "AWW! I wanted to kill the intruder!"

Strictly, Remilia says "Flandre... go now!"

Flandre slumps as she sadly flies away to her room while saying "I never get to have any fun!"

Sakuya gasps and exclaims "lady Patchouli!"

Remilia calmly says "relax... Flandre used to be a little more obedient... a very long time ago, so she'll just head back to her room. She's behaving the way she did when we first entered Gensokyo though... This is bad."

Sakuya looks completely confused at Remilia, who turns to face Sakuya with a very serious expression, then says "do not let ANYONE near that room. Only I can approach her now! Did I make myself clear!"

Sakuya nods, and sounding almost scared she says "a...understood... my lady."

At the Hakurei shrine, Reimu arrives carrying various books and rolled up papers with her, and just as Rika closes the door of the greenhouse she heads to greet her mistress.

Before Rika reaches her, however, she notices a very gloomy expression in Reimu's face.

Before she can greet her, Reimu tries her best to sound calm, but only manages to sound as though she's suppressing herself as she says "Rika... I will be in my room. I want complete silence. Understood?"

Concernedly, Rika asks "my lady, what-?"

Reimu raises her tone of voice, sounding aggravated when she says "NOT... a sound... understood!"

Rika winces, then nervously bows and says "u-understood."

Mima and Aya approach Reimu, Mima saying "come on, Reimu, at least-"

Before Mima can finish, Reimu shouts at the top of her lungs "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANOTHER SOUND!"

She takes a deep breath and calms down a little, noticing the girls around her staring back at her nervously and quite surprised.

Sounding a little more calm, she says "I need to study these. I need complete concentration. Not... a sound."

As she says this, she emanates a powerful aura that frightens everyone around her, even Suika, who hides herself on the roof. Reimu quietly walks to her room, and after various thuds on the floor, she slams the door to her room so hard, the wooden frame cracks.

Rika, Aya, Mima, and Suika, who jumps from the roof and lands next to Rika, all stare frightened and concerned at Reimu's room.

Meanwhile, at Marisa's house, the witch finally wakes up and instinctively rubs her head.

The first thing is notices is the blood and sharp pain from Reimu's kick, saying "uh... It hurts. *sigh* It wasn't a dream after all..."

The second thing she notices is her hat is missing.

She desperately taps her head repeatedly and sounding even more desperate she exclaims "my hat! Where's my..."

She gasps and thinks "NO! I left it back there!"

She remembers when Shikieiki asked her to remove her hat, and how she obediently took it off and placed it on the desk in front of her.

Marisa clenches her teeth and determinedly she says "oh no! I'm not leaving my hat there!"

Ignoring the throbbing pain on her head, she lifts her arm and tries to summon her broom, however, it doesn't come to her.

With a quick and confused "huh?" she tries again, and again, until she remembers about the yama's punishment.

She opens her eyes wide and falls on her knees, using her arms as support to prevent her body to fall to the ground as the realization slowly sinks into her mind.

Outside her house, her scream of despair echoes far, getting the attention of a few youkai and fairies, all recovering from the shock wave caused by the opening of that gate in her basement.

At Eintei, Sanae, Budou, Lily, and Byakuren enjoy some tea and snacks in the mansion while Eirin treats Ail in her clinic.

Although Budou and Lily look happy, Sanae is still unable to smile, so Byakuren approaches her and asks "you're still worried?"

Sanae sighs and whispers "you saw all those cuts, those wounds... the bullet wounds."

Byakuren rubs Sanae's head, and with a cheerful smile she says "cheer up! The lunarian is taking good care of him!"

Sanae sighs again as she looks at her teacup, then says "but he didn't say a word... he still hasn't said a single word."

Byakuren sighs and drops next to Sanae, then says "maybe he's in shock. I'm sure... oh."

Before she finishes, Eirin walks out of the clinic and shouts "miss Sanae, miss Byakuren, could you please come over?"

Sanae and Byakuren stand up, placing their teacups by the table, Sanae saying "Budou, miss Lily, please behave."

With glints in their eyes, Budou says "alright mama!", and Lily nods.

When they arrive at the clinic, Reisen exits and says "I'll keep an eye on things over here.", then continues to the mansion.

Immediately after entering, and Eirin closes the door, Sanae rapidly asks "what happened!"

Eirin quietly walks past them, then picks up a tray that holds 3 bullets from her desk, then says "I found these, literally lodged on his bones, one on his shoulder, one on the left calf, and the last one just above his abdomen, plus 7 more bullet wounds, however it appears he took care of those himself."

Sanae looks a bit surprised, but before she asks, Eirin continues "also, it appears he hasn't been eating properly! He's lacking many proteins and necessary elements for proper bodily functions... AND..."

Eirin raises her hand in front of Sanae's face to stop her from talking, then says "as for the reason he's not speaking..."

From one of the beds, a girl's voice happily says "...is because he's acting on subconscious."

Eirin growls and says "I wanted to say that, dammit!"

From under the closest bed, Koishi pops her smiling face and says "you were too slow.", then jumps out and sits on the bed, and with that happy smile, she continues "but even though he's acting on subconscious, he should at least be able to speak... I wonder why he won't even peep."

While Sanae and Byakuren stare at Koishi, Eirin face palms and softly says "ugh, what an annoying girl.", then walks to Ail's bed, revealing him sitting like a frog on the bed and staring into a small mirror in his underwear after pulling the curtains, then says "his basic functions are here. He'll feed, sleep, breathe, he can even learn a few things... other than that... he'll be acting like a child."

Koishi giggles and says "the only way to live."

Sanae looks aggravated at Koishi, then at Eirin, then desperately asks "what does this all mean? Eirin, what happened to him?"

Koishi sighs before Eirin, annoying her a little, then says "who knows what could have happened to him, but..."

Eirin continues "it's like his consciousness is not there. I tried many methods of psychology, Reisen tried her own methods, but nothing made him react. What we have here..."

Koishi continues "...is the starving shell of his former self."

Before Byakuren or Sanae can speak, Eirin adds "another interesting thing is... though he does react to 'Ail', there is absolutely no reaction to his full name."

Immediately after hearing that, Byakuren calls "Anilan!"

Ail continues to stare at the mirror, completely ignoring her.

After that, Sanae calls "Ail" in a motherly tone, then Ail turns his face away from the mirror, and the second he looks at Sanae he smiles, waves, then continues to stare into the mirror.

Concerned, Eirin says "I'm worried about those two, though... What if he rejects them while in this state?"

Sanae smiles and says "I don't think that will be a problem." Then stares at Ail and says "he loves Budou too much, and I'm sure he'll remember Lily White."

Eirin suddenly gasps, then says "that's right, about his clothes..."

She pulls Ail's destroyed and bloodstained clothes from a trash bin and says "they are completely useless. He's going to need new clothes."

Ran opens the door from behind them, and with a smile on her face she says "that shouldn't be a problem at all."

She carries a fresh set of clothes she brought from Ail's house, and while she smiles and offers them to Sanae, through the door, outside the clinic, Budou, Lily, Koishi and Chen have Tewi, Reisen and Kaguya trapped on top of a tree, all three giggling and shooting danmaku at anyone that tries to come down.

Koishi suddenly shouts "raid their drawers!", to which all the girls cheer and run inside, ignoring the angry shouts from the tree trapped girls.

Back at Marisa's house, Marisa sits by the entrance to her house on the open archway, swaying back and forth while holding on to her knees, trying to think of something other than her lost magic, or her lost hat.

While staring blankly at the path in front of her house, she thinks "it's going to be ok... I'll be fine. No magic? No problem... No hat... No... magic... Mom..."

A tear escapes the right eye of Marisa as she continues to stare at the path to her house, but she looks up and suddenly narrows her eyes and shouts "YOU~~!"

Shikieiki and Komachi stand by each other's side, staring concernedly at Marisa.

Marisa springs to her feet and while staring angrily at the yama she shouts "what now! What the HELL do you want now! My soul! Well go ahead, dammit! TAKE IT ALREADY!"

Shikieiki calmly walks to Marisa and looks into her eyes, then looks back to Komachi and in a disappointed tone of voice she says "we're too late. She's already been sealed!"

Marisa narrows her left eye and raises her right eyebrow, and sounding annoyed, she asks "what the HELL are you two talking about!"

Shikieiki turns to Marisa, then says "Kirisame, you need to calm down!"

Marisa feels her insides burn with a sudden surge of rage and shouts "calm down! You want me to calm DOWN! What the HELL are you saying! Thanks to you, Reimu HATES ME! My magic is sealed, I lost mom's hat in your STUPID courtroom, and now you're telling me to CALM DOWN!"

Shikieiki raises her voice over Marisa's and says "you opened a gate that links two paradises by FORCE not even knowing where it leads, you tricked your FRIEND into opening that gate for you almost costing him his LIFE, and now you DARE question my methods!"

Marisa stares back at Shikieiki in shock, but calms down and drops on the floor, right back under the door's archway.

After she calms down, Komachi approaches her and kneels down, then with a soft voice she says "you are lucky Eiki-sama was there. She saved your life!"

Shikieiki immediately says "for what you did, the punishment was un-birth... Your entire life would have become non-existent, and furthermore, if that yama of the dragons had his way, you would have had to suffer that fate while being left alive."

Marisa raises her face as Shikieiki says "could you imagine such a horrible fate? To wander the world, nameless, without friends there to support you, nobody to care about you... That was to be your punishment, Marisa."

Marisa looks up and sounding tired she says "you... you need me for something. That's why I'm still here, isn't it?"

Shikieiki steps away and lifts her sword to cover her mouth, revealing her burned hand to Marisa, then says "yes... and no. What I want from you... Marisa Kirisame, is for you to learn from this mistake. Repent for what you have done, and help us restore everything back to its former balance."

Marisa gasps at the sight of Shikieiki's hand, then Komachi softly says "for helping you, Eiki-sama was punished. Yamas aren't supposed to let emotions take over, but Shiki-sama is different."

Marisa sighs, then asks "but... what can I do now? I don't have any magic. How am I supposed to do anything at all!"

With her good hand, Shikieiki pulls a key made of orange flames from her pocket, then smiles as she kneels in front of Marisa, then inserts the key into her chest and says "I can't remove the seal yet, or it will destroy your soul. What I can do is weaken it, to at least allow you to use your magic when in danger."

Marisa stares back curiously as Shikieiki slowly turns the key, then slowly turns it back and pulls it away with a smile, then says "well, lucky you. You should be able to use your broom for defense at least."

Marisa looks confused toward Komachi and Shikieiki, then asks "why? Why are you helping me like this?"

Shikieiki backs away and places the key back in her pocket and almost drops her sword, but she tightens her grip and winces from the pain on her burned hand.

Marisa stares at it and asks "how bad is it?"

Shikieiki sighs and smiles, then says "don't concern yourself with me. Right now you have to concern yourself with how to close that gate. Like it, or not, you are the only one that can save Ail's consciousness, seal the void, and close that gate."

Marisa immediately asks "then why did you involve Reimu!"

Shikieiki winces in pain again and drops her sword on reflex, however Komachi is by her side and catches the sword before it hits the ground, smiling as she offers the sword back.

Shikieiki takes the sword and says "she is the guardian of this paradise. Regardless of what I would have said, this task also belongs to her. Now, I want you to remember, you may not have your magic at all times, but you have a brilliant mind..."

Shikieiki lets out half a smile as she says "and even without magic... you can still use magical items, science... and..."

Shikieiki approaches Marisa and bends down to her ear and says "with a little bit of faith, even you can cause a miracle to happen... all you have to do..."

Shikieiki suddenly materializes Marisa's hat on her right hand and continues "...is believe. Have faith in yourself, Marisa. Have faith in your friends, the spirits, the gods... As long as you have faith, everything is possible."

Unable to fully grasp Shikieiki's words, Marisa sighs after accepting her hat back, then says "look, I'll do what I can. I don't know what that is, but I'll do it... just, please... give me some time to think."

Shikieiki smiles as she backs away from Marisa and stands next to Komachi, then says "try to think fast, miss Kirisame. Time is not on our side, so every second you waste while 'thinking about it' is a wasted chance to do the right thing."

Marisa closes her eyes and places her hat on her chest while holding it with both hands.

There is a sudden wind and Marisa is about to speak, but when she opens her eyes, the yama and her shinigami are long gone.

She looks to the golden afternoon sky, then sighs loudly and says "mom... I wonder what I should do now. Where do I go from here..."

Meanwhile, inside the dark void between the two worlds, the voice of Ail echoes as he calls "MARISA~! Marisa, where are you!"

Though his voice echoes everywhere, his location is unknown, even to himself. All he can see is darkness all around, and slowly, but surely, the darkness gets to him.

Sobbing, Ail says "why in hell's blazes does this keep happening to me! That girl said she was my friend.... I should have known. I don't have any friends!"

He pauses for a moment, then suddenly screams as hard and loud as he can "you damned gods and your stupid fate make me sick! LET ME DIE ALREADY, YOU BASTARDS!"

After that, an unsettling silence takes over for a few seconds, then suddenly the deep and gentle voice of a dragon says "little human. You speak as though you have earned the comfort of eternal sleep."

Without thinking, Ail shouts back "with all the shit I've been through, and who knows WHAT ELSE I've been through, I think I've earned that... But these damned gods and this fate... Anyway, who the hell are you? And where are you!"

The voice calmly says "calm down, little human. First of all, I am the guardian of the land you and that female tried to invade."

Ail angrily replies "she tricked me!"

The guardian dragon says "it's alright little human. Neither one of you meant harm, however... that's another story. Now, I am here because I was asked to help you."

Ail calms down a little, but still sounding a little aggravated he asks "help me? I can't see, I don't know where the hell I am, I can't even see YOU... I can't see myself! How can you help me!"

The dragon calmly says "well, we are in front of the entrance to my world, but if you won't take my word for it, you'll need to open your eyes."

Ail asks "my eyes..?"

Slowly, Ail opens his eyes and finds himself next to a large white light that looks like a doorway, inside a room with black floors and walls and a roof with waving purple energy.

In front of him is a large black and white fireball that looks like a slow-spinning yin-yang orb with a steady dragon head while the symbol itself spins all the time.

The dragon spirit smiles and says "welcome to the void, little human."

Ail finally takes a good look at himself and realizes he's a ball of fire that constantly changes colors. Ail is surprised, his rage subsided and replaced by confusion and surprise.

While looking at himself he asks "wha? What happened to me?"

The dragon takes a deep breath, making it seem like he's growling, then says "when your friend and you opened the gate to our world, your body was to be sacrificed in order to make a perfect union, however, the female magician refused to let you die, and when she tried to save you, this void was created, and you and your body were separated."

Ail sighs and turns blue for a moment, then says "why save me? She should have let me die. Freedom from the gods and fates."

The dragon smiles and says "for the same reason you sealed away all your former memories."

Ail looks confused, then asks "what do you mean?"

Still smiling, the dragon says "while you were in a world outside of your paradise, you were hunted down, and you feared they might catch you one day and get to Gensokyo, and to Budou and Sanae, and all your friends there. In order to protect them, you sealed away your memories."

Ail gasps and says "Budou. That name makes me feel at ease... and Sanae... I have a strong feeling about that name... Argh! But I can't remember!"

The dragon quickly says "it's alright. That is why I am here. I was asked to help you regain your memories and return you to the path you were force out of."

Ail looks even more confused, then asks "my path?"

The dragon smiles again, then says "relax. We have plenty of time. For now, I want you to rest and calm yourself... after that, I will do what I can to help you regain your memories, and set you on the right path again."

Ail sighs, then suddenly feels exhausted. He slowly floats to the black ground, then turns white, thus falling asleep.

The dragon smiles and says "you will rest now. When morning light comes, you and I will begin with your self-recovery. You can't die, little human... You are too important a soul to just wander around without aim."

With those words, the dragon turns into a black and white flame, then flies out the white light, back into his world.

That night, at the Moriya Shine.

Sanae walks out the room corridors, then approaches the goddesses and sits by the table with them, then sighs and sounding disappointed she says "he knows how to take a bath after all."

Both Kanako and Suwako open their eyes wide as their faces turn blue, then Suwako looks a bit annoyed as she whispers to herself "so she's a pervert after all."

From under the table, Koishi pops her head and crawls right in front of Sanae, then angrily says "oy~ We are subconscious! Not incapable!"

Sanae sweats and says "you should go home now."

Koishi smiles again, then says "oh there's no way I'm leaving now! Things are getting too interesting, and perhaps there are a few things I can teach Ail, now that he's subconscious and all that."

While saying this, a glint escapes Koishi's eyes, then Sanae angrily shouts "now WAIT a minute! Don't go teaching him perverted things!"

Koishi asks "aww, why not? It's fun being a little naughty."

While Sanae argues with Koishi, the goddesses just watch them while Budou sits by the shrine's porch with Phredia sitting on her shoulder, both staring at the whistle on her hand.

Budou asks "Phredia, why didn't this work right? Why did it send papa to the temple?"

Phredia shrugs and shakes her head left and right, then Koishi, who now sits right beside them, says "the witch at the forest should know."

Budou gasps and exclaims "that's right! I can ask miss Marisa!"

Koishi smiles, then says "we should go in the morning. I'll come with you. I've always wanted to visit that witch's house."

From the path to the shrine, Chen's voice says "I'm coming too. It sounds like it could be fun!"

Chen and Ran get closer, revealing themselves in the light coming from the shrine, then Ran says "as long as you keep safe, you may go."

Budou flaps her wings as she happily looks at them, then says "Chen... miss Koishi! Thank you... eh?" When Budou looks beside her, Koishi is already gone.

Inside the shrine, Sanae is running around, shouting "that is not PROPPER!"

Lily smiles and shouts "fun, fun, FUN~!"

Koishi laughs hard and says "Sanae's underwear is a great mask! Ail, you should try it!"

Sanae shouts "DON'T TURN HIM INTO A PERVERT!"

Watching from the table, Suwako and Kanako quietly stare, both looking slightly annoyed.

When everything calms down, Ran is inside, holding Koishi around one arm and Lily on the other, then looks at Ail, who is wearing a pink shirt over the many bandages on his body while sitting next to his futon, then says "I see someone's having fun here."

Sanae sweats and sounding agitated she says "i-it's just a shirt!"

Ran smirks and whispers "right~!", then says "well, we left everything in the house as it should be... except, um..."

Sanae quickly asks "you blew up the kitchen, didn't you!"

Ran rapidly shouts "I'm not a menace!", then quickly composes herself and says "no, it's Yukari-sama. She liked Ail's bed too much and took it with her... I couldn't convince her to leave it."

Sanae sighs and lightly face-palms, then says "well, it's not like he'll be using it much."

Ran stares neutrally at Sanae, then says "well, the important thing is the house is ready, except for the bed"

then she looks at Koishi, then Lily and says "and you two better behave, or I'll be coming by more often."

Koishi and Lily smile sheepishly wile a small sweat drop rolls down the left side of their heads, then say at the same time "hai~!"

On their seats, Ran's hand marks brightly shine as pain throb though and keeps the two mischief makers calmed.

Still sitting by the small table and looking both bored and annoyed, Kanako asks herself "when the hell did this shrine become so popular?"

The next morning, before Sanae wakes up, Budou, Koishi and Chen fly away to the Forest of Magic.

On the roof of the shrine, sitting next to Suwako and mimicking her by sitting like a frog, Ail silently waves to Budou, revealing one of the bandages on his shoulder, making Budou wave back, but looking a bit sad after seeing the injury.

Phredia lightly pats her back and hugs the back of her neck, then Koishi approaches Budou and says "don't be sad. His injuries will be healed soon. Who knows, he might even start speaking again."

Budou smiles back, then continues on her way to the forest.

At Marisa's house, inside the basement, Marisa stares silently and expressionless at the swirling vortex as it continues to blow a cold but gentle wind.

She approaches one of the white stones that hold the gate in place and thinks of removing it, however, a lose piece of paper comes from within the vortex and gets caught on Marisa's leg.

When she looks at it, for a second, her eyes sparkle, but she sighs and thinks of dropping it, but something in her heart prevents her from doing so and ends up folding it and placing it in her pocket.

Shortly after, there is a knock on the door to her house, and at first she wants to ignore it, but her hope of that being Reimu wanting to make up again pulls her straight to that door.

When she reaches the last step back to the living room there is another knock, and sounding annoyed Marisa says "just a minute... Geez, how impatient."

When she opens the door, Chen, Koishi and Budou stand there, all looking up to her, saying "hi~!" at the same time.

Marisa focuses on Budou, then whispers "she told you."

Marisa ignores Koishi, who walks right in as she drops to her knees and places both hands on Budou's shoulders, staring terrorized back at Budou, then softly says "Budou, I'm so sorry."

Budou stares back at Marisa with great confusion, then Marisa suddenly continues "I didn't mean to do it, I swear! It was supposed to be something special, but it turned out so wrong! I'm so sorry!"

Budou stares into Marisa's eyes, then Phredia comes from under Budou's hair and stares, then Suddenly Budou's eyes hide under shadow, then asks "so you called papa back? And you caused him to keep quiet! WHY!"

Marisa releases Budou and tries to push herself as far away from the little youkai as possible, and sounding very nervous she says "I-I swear, I only wanted him to open the gate for me with one of his gaps. I swear, I never meant to lose his body and his conscious mind, I swear!"

Phredia stares at Marisa, then looks at Budou, who sounding very serious, says "Phredia says you are telling the truth... and she also says you are responsible for getting his mind back."

Marisa nods as Budou stares seriously and says "you'll be glad to know we found his body, and that he is ok... But you do know I have to tell mama about this."

Marisa whispers "wa... you didn't know? Then how-?"

Budou immediately says "Phredia read your eyes and told me everything. I am not mad, miss Marisa. You brought my papa back, but please, find his mind for me. I miss him!"

Budou almost sobs when saying this, but she steels herself, preventing herself from doing so, then pulls her own whistle from her pocket and says "this is what I came here for."

Marisa grabs the whistle, then stares confused at Budou, who notices and says "I tried over and over to call papa with that, but it never worked. I was hoping you could tell me what happened to it."

Marisa sighs and wants to tell Budou about her punishment for what she did, however she stares at the whistle and notices the magic around it, surprising herself with this.

A bit excited, Marisa says "I... I can see it. Budou, this whistle heard you making a promise to it. That's why it didn't work... You promised something and put a powerful emotion in that promise. The magic in this whistle picked up on that, and that is why it didn't work."

Marisa hands the whistle back, and while Budou picks it, she whispers "my... my promise... I forgot about that."

Suddenly, Marisa realizes Koishi is picking up everything in her house, saying "ooh" and "aah" and making a bigger mess than there was before, while Budou realizes Chen is chasing Tokiko, trying to eat her while the youkai screams and tries to run for her life.

Marisa quickly turns around and shouts "you little subconscious monster, what are you doing in there!"

At the same time, Budou turns around and shouts "no! Chen, don't eat my friend! Chen~!"

Shortly after the girls leave, Tokiko reveals herself hiding behind the chimney on Marisa's house, while Marisa stands outside her house, watching as the girls leave, and with a confident smile on her face, she says "I saw the magic. I'm not useless after all!"

While flying high above the Human Village, Chen and Koishi fly next to Budou as she finishes saying "...and when I promised I would call papa after I became stronger, the magic in this whistle absorbed that emotion. At least that is what miss Marisa said to me."

Chen smiles and says "well, at least you now know why it didn't work."

Koishi smiles dreamily and says "you better be more careful with what you say from now on."

Immediately after saying that, Sanae says "so that's where you were! Honestly, you had me worried for nothing after all!"

Budou, Chen and Koishi look to the right, then Budou exclaims "MAMA!"

She looks back at Sanae with a serious expression, then Sanae asks "what happened?"

Budou says "we need to go to the Hakurei Shrine. I have to tell you and Hakurei sis something very important."

Sanae is a little surprised by Budou, acting all grown up and serious, but she decides to just nod and follow them all to the shrine, thinking "whatever this is... it has to be very important. She'd never put up a face like that if it wasn't."

Meanwhile, at the SDM, Remilia is walking alongside Sakuya down to the basement, then Remilia suddenly says "remember, stay out of sight! If she sees you, she will attack you!"

Seemingly calm, but showing her nervousness through her eyes, Sakuya bows and says "as you wish, my la-"

Remilia covers Sakuya's mouth with her hand in a flash, and looking into the maid's eyes she says "I am serious. Do NOT let her see you. Use your Luna Dial without hesitation if I give the signal. Now... let's go."

Like a sudden thunder strike, Flandre's voice echoes all the way outside the mansion when she shouts "MAMA~~! Mama, where are you~!"

She starts to cry out louder "MAMA~~! I cut my finger! Mama!"

The entire basement shakes after there is an explosion coming from Flandre's room, and before they know what is going on, Flandre stands in front of Remilia and Sakuya, crying and holding out her finger, showing them a small cut and crying out "onee-chan, onee-chan! Where's mama? I hurt my finger."

Remilia notices Flandre's eyes and signals Sakuya to relax, then says "Flandre, our mother are father aren't here. They are-"

Flandre immediately exclaims "they are outside! *sob* Mama~! Papa~! My finger~! It hurts~!"

Unable to stop her, Flandre flies past Remilia and Sakuya, holding out her finger and crying out for her mother and father.

Sakuya asks "my lady, what just happen?"

Remilia narrows her eyes and says "she's acting like she's a hundred again. She should be easier to handle... Sakuya, after her!"

Sakuya bows, then says "right away, my lady!"

After breaking her way through the front wall, Flandre flies above the mansion and shouts "mama? Papa? Where are you!"

She starts to sob as she looks around and fails to find her parents, but to the distance, she notices a woman with long hair flying above the lake, and thinking it's her mother she smiles and exclaims with glee "MAMA~~!", but when she gets closer, she realizes it's someone else.

Kimi Hong turns around with an angry expression in her face and asks "what? You want another beating, blondie?"

Flandre stares back with rage, then says "YOU! What did you do to my mom, dragon!"

Kimi stares back confused, then shakes her head left and right and says "look, I have NO time for you. I need to find..."

Before she finishes, Flandre fires a large energy orb, which Kimi deflects with one hand.

Glaring back at Flandre, in an ominous tone, Kimi says "it appears you didn't learn your lesson from last time, little whelp!"

From below, Rumia stares up and with a smile on her face she says "Uu~, those two are going to fight again."

Agava reveals herself from behind the tree Rumia is on and sounding confused she says "odd... She never told me she was fighting the dragon again."

From the mansion's entrance, Remilia and Sakuya watch as Kimi and Flandre fling overpowered spells at each other, so Sakuya immediately says "we need Reimu, my lady."

Remilia looks on with a very serious and annoyed face and says "shit.. there's no helping it. Sakuya, try to keep up!"

Remilia lifts to the sky in a big hurry, followed closely by Sakuya, who is using her Luna Dial to help expedite the journey.

At the Hakurei Shrine, to Budou and Sanae's luck, Reimu was having breakfast by the table and has listened to the story Phredia and Budou had to tell.

Budou is almost to tears, but she wills herself to finish the story, saying "...Phredia also saw how confused papa was. He didn't even recognized her, but Ma... miss Marisa kept pestering him."

Budou starts to sob when she says "and when miss Marisa use mine and mama's name, he recognized us, and after that..."

Reimu lightly bangs on the table while glaring away to the exit of the shrine, then says "that is enough. You've been brave enough to tell us all of this, now rest."

Budou kneels beside Sanae, who extends her arm to her, and as soon as her hand touches the little youkai, Budou begins to cry and asks "why does this has to happen, mama?"

Sanae suppresses her rage as she brushes Budou's hair with her fingers, then says "that... witch. If I get my hands on her-"

Sounding aggravated, Reimu quickly says "don't concern yourself with her, I already dealt with that."

She narrows her eyes and reaches into her pocket, quickly tossing a glass rose at Sanae and says "at least we know Ail's body is safe. Call Ayalina through that if you want. Tell her Ail is here, but he's acting subconsciously. However, if you don't think you can, then don't bother. Just, please, do NOT call her here."

Sanae stares a little confused at Reimu while Rika and Koishi finish fixing the sliding doors to Reimu's room, then Rika says "my lady, please calm down. All this stress is not healthy for you!"

Reimu raises her voice a little as she says "well I WISH I could, but there are too many question that need answering, and not enough time to answer them all! That stupid witch did something VERY DANGEROUS, and I have to fix all of it."

Rika approaches the table and worriedly says "but my lady, if you would just calm down a little. Maybe meditate a few hours, that-"

Reimu bangs on the table with both hands as she springs to her feet, scaring Chen right from underneath the table itself and on to Sanae, then narrows her eyes as she tries to look at Rika's and as calmly as possible she says "I... am going back to my room. Remember, not a sound."

Rika continues to stare determined at Reimu, trying to look into her eyes, however Reimu skillfully avoids making eye contact so Rika says "my lady, please allow me to help you!"

Reimu ignores Rika and walks to her room, walking past Rika and Koishi as she heads inside, then calmly says "you shouldn't worry about me. Besides, you have two more guests to tend to, so please, do so. Oh, and try to keep the noise to a minimum... I need all my concentration here."

She slowly closes the sliding doors, leaving both Rika and Sanae staring back both concerned and confused.

Rika turns around, asking "two guests?"

From outside the back of the shrine, Lily's voice comes inside clearly as she happily shouts "it's SRPING!", followed by various explosions.

Rika panics and whispers "too much noise!"

Rika, Budou and Sanae rush outside to find Lily flying around Ail and dancing in the air, while Ail jumps around like a frog, and trying out single-handed handstands, only to fall on his head and roll on the ground, then try again.

Budou gasps and involuntarily flaps her wings as she excitedly shouts "PAPA~!"

She flies so fast to Ail, Phredia falls right out of her hair and on to Sanae's hands.

Ail silently smiles at Budou and opens his arms widely, catching Budou in a hug-tackle that sends them both sliding next to Rika's greenhouse while Lily continues to dance around the air and excitedly shouting "it's spring~!"

Sanae sighs along with Rika, who also flaps her small wings slowly, then look at each other and at the same time they say "kids."

An hour later, Chen is summoning cats to the back of the shrine, while inside the shrine Budou, Ail and Lily enjoy tea and snacks, both girls sitting as close as possible beside Ail, while Sanae and Rika enjoy a quiet chat and Koishi sits on the roof next to the drunken Suika and Aya.

While Koishi continues to smile, she pokes Aya's shoulders, and although Aya gets mad, all she does is whisper "quit it!", in fear that Reimu might really hurt her if she causes too much noise.

From the sky, a faint voice calls for Reimu.

Aya looks up, and suddenly Remilia and Sakuya appear in the sky just above the shrine, and while descending to the shrine grounds Remilia shouts "REIMU~! It's an emergency~!"

The second they land Rika approaches them and nervously bows down and whispers "please, keep it down. Miss Reimu is studying in her room."

Remilia glares at Rika and swings her arm offensively toward Rika and says "you keep away from me! I'm not here to speak to you! I came here looking for Reimu! Besides, you are NOT to be trusted!"

Rika gasps, her heart thumps hard twice, then she backs away as a dark depressive aura surrounds her.

Remilia continues to head inside while Sanae approaches Rika, angrily saying "hey, she was just greeting you, you spoiled brat!", then kneels beside the shrine's maid, patting her back and whispering "it's alright. There, there, let it all out."

The moment Sanae comes to comfort her, Rika sniffles and lets a few large tear drops fall from her wiggling white eyes.

Sakuya stares sadly toward Rika, then bows, but says nothing.

Aya rushes down to Remilia and gets in her way, whispering "you stupid brat, are you trying to get us all killed! Leave Reimu alone!"

Remilia bluntly shouts "get the hell out of my way, crow! This is important!"

Remilia pushes Aya away and walks up to Reimu's room, then starts to knock on Reimu's door without stop and shouts "REIMU~! I know you are there, so just wake up already, you lazy shrine maiden! This is an emergency!"

Rika, Chen, Sanae, Suika, Aya and even Koishi all stare from outside the shrine with terrorized faces, Aya whispering "nice knowing you, you little brat."

Remilia notices this and loudly says "geez, you're all acting as if Reimu has a plague or something."

She knocks hard on the wooden frame of the door and shouts "REIMU~! Wake up already~!"

Reimu's doors suddenly burst open and Reimu's head pops out 10 times its own size, and while breathing fire and glaring through glowing white eyes Reimu shouts "IF YOU DON'T STOP THAT NOW I'M RIPPING YOUR DAMNED WINGS OFF~~~!"

Remilia shrinks to the size of one of Alice's dolls and while crying she runs straight to Sakuya, whose nose is bleeding twin streams.

Reimu walks out of her room, shouting "you BETTER have a good reason to be pissing me off!"

Sakuya winces as she tries to cover her mistress and herself from Reimu's fiery breath, then says "miss Reimu, we are terribly sorry, but Flandre-"

Reimu stomps hard on the floor as she walks up to Sakuya and shouts "I don't give a damn! I have MUCH more important things to deal with, and if SHE thinks..."

Rika rushes to Reimu and immediately pushes her away, saying "my lady, please, calm down, please!"

Reimu shouts "Rika, don't get in my way!"

Rika says "please, miss Reimu, you'll wake them up!"

As Reimu looks to the table, where Rika is pointing to she shouts "what the hell are you talking about..?"

Reimu suddenly stops struggling against Rika as she stares at the subconscious body of Ail as he sleeps while holding the sleeping Budou on his right, and the sleeping Lily on his left.

Reimu stops in place and looks around, then notices a mirror on the wall behind her, getting a good look at herself.

She thinks "wa-what's this? I've become a monster."

She looks at Rika's worried face and thinks "Rika. What have I done?"

Reimu sighs and falls on her knees, feeling as though the weight of the world has just been lifted off her shoulders, then says "Rika... I'm sorry. I... I lost my control there."

Rika continues to hold on to Reimu and kneels down along with her mistress, then smiles and says "it's alright, miss Reimu. The important thing is you finally calmed down."

Reimu places her left hand on her forehead, taking many deep breaths, then says "th-thank you, Rika. And sorry... to all of you. I don't know what came over me."

Rika says "then perhaps if you tell us about it, you might feel better."

Sakuya interrupts while still holding on the her normal-sized, but still trembling mistress on her chest and says "I'm sorry to have to ruin the moment, but this is really important. Miss Reimu, Flandre has completely lost control, and she and that wild dragon are fighting again. We need your help to stop them."

Reimu suddenly composes herself and stands up with a determined look on her face, then says "a-alright. Rika, please take care of the shrine. Sanae, you are coming with me... and bring Ail with us."

Sanae gasps and enters the shrine and looking terrorized toward Reimu she says "Reimu! You can't take him there! He can't fight!"

Reimu smiles and says "oh, he's not going to fight, He's helping us bring Flandre down a couple of notches, is all."

Sanae stares confused toward Reimu, then hesitantly nods.

Outside the shrine, Aya, Chen and Suika stare at Koishi as she smiles while sticking out her tongue, then Aya asks "so how did you put that mirror there so fast? I couldn't even see you do it."

Koishi winks and calmly says "oh, you know. I just did it without thinking much."

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Ayalina, Kimi and Agava were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot2010

MAR 16 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

**A/N:**

**Uuu~ seems my muse took a vacation while I was writing this chapter, which slowed my writing down... a lot! But at least she's back now. Anyway, I am taking way too long to edit Misplaced Sukima chapters, so while writing Paradise Sukima chapter 7, I'll be working on Misplaced Sukima's update.**

**Again, thank you for reading and for your comments/reviews and showing your support. As for a question asked on the chapter before, yes, writing certain parts f that chapter were a task for me. Oh well, thank you for reading, and have a good day/night.**


	7. Chapter 7

At Marisa's house in the forest of Magic, Marisa hurries around inside her house, reading through notes made by herself, piling up past experiments and baskets full of mushrooms on the kitchen table, and after stopping and looking at the pile she mutters something to herself, then says out loud "alright, time to start working here. First things first..."

As she says this, she grabs some strange black mushrooms with small purple dots and starts crushing them against a soft white mineral stone, making a paste with them, then continues saying "...I have to reach the Scarlet Mansion. If Flandre lends me her flying machine, it should make things easier for me. After that..."

Marisa takes off her shoes and grabs the paste made from the mushrooms and minerals, then spreads a bit inside each shoe, then puts them back on, then grabs one of Patchouli's books and reads it quickly while saying "...I'll need to head to the shrine at the Youkai Mountain, ask those goddesses for help... I might have to blackmail them though, and after that..."

Marisa grabs a small lemon-green ribbon and some red thread, then starts sewing small magical symbols, along with the symbol of the yin-yang, all while looking over the open book on the table, then continues "...I'll need to head to Nitori. The yama is right. I CAN use science!"

Marisa takes off the white ribbon she usually wears, then replaces it with the lime-green ribbon.

After that, she grabs a few black orbs with a small opening on the top of them and starts filling all she can with some black powder and places a small string on the opening as she continues saying "that's right, I still need that flower youkai's help. That's not gonna be easy, but..."

Marisa walks to her kitchen and rummages through some cabinets, gasps excitedly and pulls out two smoothed wooden ovals, then says "if I manage to get her help, it'll be easier for me to seal this void. Oh, that's right, I'm going to need help getting Ail's consciousness back."

Marisa rushes outside her house, grabbing her broom and hat on the way out, and after exiting she puts her hat on and says "right, maybe the Lunarians have something that could help me with that."

She starts to kick the air and while she does, her body lifts off the ground as small magical blades form right in front of her shoes, then swings her broom around and notices a small magical aura around it as she skillfully swings it, and with a confident smirk she says "this will be like learning to use magic all over again. No matter. I passed Mima's tests once, so this should be no problem, ze!"

She looks back to her house, and with a slightly saddened look she says "don't worry, Ail. I'll be back as soon as I can, save you, AND close off that void."

She turns around and smiles with great confidence, then raises her broom and shouts "onward, Kirisame!"

She takes on step toward the road and a golden washtub falls right on top of her head, knocking her to the ground, where she shivers and moans in pain for a moment, then says "ow~"

Above her, the three mischievous fairies, Star Sapphire, Luna Child, and Sunny Milk, fly away while giggling to themselves.

-

Inside the dark void, the guardian dragon's fiery black and white soul enters the void and stops right in front of Ail's blue fiery soul, and burning like wildfire the large dragon's soul crackles along with a soft growl.

The guardian dragon shapes his head through the flames and smiles as he asks "little human, are you thinking of the blissful release of the eternal sleep?"

Ail's soul turns to face the large black and white yin-yang fireball with a dragon's head, turning reddish-orange as he says "well, there's nothing else to think about."

The black and white flame takes the shake of a humanoid dragon, holding a cup of tea while sitting on a cushion.

Ail's soul turns yellow as he excitedly asks "uu~ how did you do that!?"

The dragon takes a sip of tea and says "I just willed myself to this. It takes a little practice, but once you do it the first time you..."

As the dragon speaks, Ail's souls spins around rapidly, then suddenly takes the form of a human, holding a cup of tea on his hands while kneeling on a cushion.

The dragon raises his left eyebrow, then says "oh, I see... Never mind what I said."

Ail and the dragon look at each other for a moment, then Ail asks "I was wondering. How exactly are you going to help me? And how do you know so much about me?"

The dragon sighs deeply, sounding as though he's growling, then calmly says "while we unlock your memories you may come through fabrications, whether of your own making, or from already restored memories, that might mislead you."

Ail pops a pair of brown eyes from his ghostly body, and blinks twice.

The dragon chuckles and says "you seem to be adapting faster than I thought. And no, I cannot read your mind, like your friend, Satori, but I can keep track of your train of thoughts and easily detect any fabrication you might come across."

Again, Ail blinks twice, then the dragon says "as for how I know about you... You were described to me by a dragon called Dai-Drecon, and as for how I know so much, all I can say is you have a few guardian angels taking good care of you. That's all I am allowed to tell."

Ail sighs, then says "geez. Satori would be such great help right about... wait, how do I suddenly know that name?"

The dragon smiles and says "you have a great heart and powerful feelings for all your friends. You will remember everything with ease. This does not mean you will remember everything at once. There might be memories inside of you that you might want to forget, but if we are to fully heal you, we must go through those."

Ail takes a gulp from the cup of tea he's holding while staring back at the dragon. To his surprise, the cup really has tea in it, and it's his favorite green tea as well.

The dragon chuckles and in a playful tone of voice he asks "you really thought these were empty?"

Ail takes a deep breath, then sighs and says "Budou... Sanae..."

-

Flying close to the Misty Lake, sounding a little annoyed, Reimu asks "Sanae... I said to bring Ail. WHY are they here too?"

Sanae flies immediately besides Reimu and says "Reimu, I tried! You saw it! There's just no way to shake them off!"

Flying behind the two shrine maidens are Budou, Koishi, Lily, Chen, and Phredia, who is helping guide Ail to the right direction by pointing at Budou.

Koishi happily says "I want to see how Flandre is. I haven't visited her since that solar eclipse."

Chen says "I'm strong! I can help!"

Lily shouts "Ail is here!"

Budou adds "where papa goes, I go! He might need my help!"

Flying above the lake, Reimu face palms, sighs, then whispers "kids these days."

Right after she says that, she and Sanae place a blue barrier in front of themselves just as a large fireball and a powerful red orb come flying to them, striking them hard and pushing Sanae back.

Sanae catches up with Reimu and asks "what the hell was THAT!?"

Reimu points ahead toward the large dark-colored dragon and the little blonde vampire.

Sanae turns around and says "you find a place to hide with Ail and don't let him out until Reimu gives the signal!"

Budou, Lily, Koishi, Chen and Phredia all salute to Sanae, and after looking at them doing that, Ail mimics them all and salutes Sanae with a most serious expression, then smiles again while still holding his hand on his forehead.

Sanae excitedly waves both hands away from herself and says "go, go! Hide already!"

The girls quickly rush to the shores of the island, dragging the still-saluting Ail with them.

After they are safely hidden under the trees there, Sanae turns to Reimu and asks "so what do we do?"

Reimu grabs Sanae's cheeks and starts squeezing her face hard, stretching Sanae's cheeks, then just like that, she lets her go.

Sanae angrily shouts "OW~~! What the hell you do that for!?"

With a mischievous smile on her face, Reimu giggles and says "sorry, but you're just so adorable. I had to pinch those rosy cheeks of yours!"

Sanae rubs her red cheeks, trying to hold back the tears of pain as she angrily says "that's not funny!"

Reimu smiles and says "but at least you have my scent."

Sanae stares curiously as Reimu continues "I want you to handle Kimi while I handle Flandre. Now that you have my scent, Kimi will recognize you as a friend, and won't kill you."

Sanae turns pale and trembles as she asks "k-k-k-kill me?"

Near the shores of the lake, Koishi and Phredia stand guard, Koishi saying "we'll keep you guys safe, so there's no need to worry."

Phredia nods after Koishi says this, then they start looking at Flandre and Kimi fight, watching worriedly as many stray bullets rain down all around the mansion and the lake.

While this happens, Chen wanders closer to the mansion gates and finds Meiling sitting with her back against the gates and burring her face in her knees as she hugs them while sobbing loudly.

Before Meiling notices the nekomata, she's already next to her, gently patting her head and saying "miss gate guard, please don't cry. Miss Reimu and miss Sanae are taking care of everything."

Meiling raises her head and looks toward the smiling Chen, then asks "y-you like me?"

Chen smiles as she nods and says "well of course, miss Meiling. I know how hard being gate keeper is. Remember when I replaced you while you were on vacation?"

Meiling smiles, her eyes still full of tears, then grabs Chen as if she were a pet, and while petting her head and calming the nekomata down she says "you like me. That means I like you."

-

Meanwhile, at the Forest of Magic, a black blur jumps from tree to tree at great speeds.

After reaching the exit of the forest, the blur reveals to be Marisa, moving at inhuman speeds.

While running she thinks "good. The paste I made from the mushroom and the stone should evaporate in a week, but with this magical boost, I'm sure I'll be back long before it's gone. Now, I need to move fast. If what that yama said is true, which it probably is, I don't have much time..."

Marisa's train of thought is disrupted when a translucent shadow flies above her head.

Curiously, Marisa looks up and finds she's being trailed by the translucent Mima, and with surprise she exclaims "Mama-Mia~!"

Mima blushes and stares annoyed toward Marisa, then stops her by punching her head and angrily saying "don't say things you'll regret!"

Marisa holds her head with both hands and runs around in a small circle before falling on her knees.

Unknown to Mima, the wound left by Reimu is still fresh, and Mima's sudden attack just made the wound throb painfully on Marisa's head, making her dizzy enough to fall on the ground.

Worried, Mima says "whoa, are you alright? I didn't hit you that hard!"

Marisa's world spins slowly, and Mima's words seem to echo inside her head, but after rubbing her eyes she recovers and says "so-sorry... And yes, you did hit me that hard!"

Mima slumps for a second, then says "I'm sorry~", then flies around Marisa and sounding quite casual she asks "you know, there's something different about you... Hmm, did you cut your hair?"

Marisa wants to rub the cut on her head, but she doesn't want to give Reimu away, so she just grabs her hat by its edges and lightly shakes it left and right, soothing the throbbing pain on her head.

After that, she gets up and says "something like that, ze. Say..."

She stares at Mima, as if contemplating something, then says "I'm trying to get to the Scarlet Mansion. Could you take me there?"

Marisa realizes what she just said, and Mima is already looking at her suspiciously.

She knows her old teacher will notice the seal immediately, so she quickly and nervously starts speed-walking, rapidly saying "well, it was fun, but I really need to hurry, so bye~!"

Mima quietly flies from behind and gives Marisa a hug.

The second she touches her she gasps in surprise and backs away as she says "Marisa, what happened to your magical aura!? And why aren't you flying!? Did something happen to... you?"

Mima notices a little blood on Marisa's head and quickly lifts the witch's hat, revealing the wound and angrily asking "who the hell did this to you!? Did the one that did THIS also seal your magic!?"

Marisa takes the hat away from Mima and nervously says "i-it's ok, Mima-sama! It's... just temporary! Th-that's why I'm going to the scarlet mansion! Patchouli should be able to..."

Mima forcefully gets closer to the nervous witch and sniffs the wound.

Marisa backs away as fast as she can, hoping Mima doesn't catch Reimu's scent, but it's too late and Mima angrily growls and says "Reimu!! What has that maiden done to you!?"

Marisa nervously says "Rei-Reimu? No, Reimu hasn't done a thing. I'm the one that..."

Mima's aura glows gold as the rage evident in her face takes over her senses and shouts "that's lazy, laid-back wench! I'll make her PAY!"

Marisa tries to calm her down, but before she can even speak Mima flies away so fast she causes a powerful back-draft.

Marisa keeps to her feet and while looking toward Mima with fright in her face she says "dammit! This isn't good!"

Marisa starts to run again, and while zipping through the village she thinks "maybe if I can do this fast enough, Mima-sama will calm down, and maybe Reimu will..."

The second she thinks of her friend her eyes water, however she continues to run, fixed on reaching the SDM as quickly as possible.

-

While Reimu and Sanae approach Flandre and Kimi, from the other side come Remilia and Sakuya.

Remilia observes all that is going on, then says "Sakuya. Meiling is going to become and hindrance. Give her the rest of the day off and make SURE she stays in her room."

Sakuya bows in mid-air and says "as you wish, my lady... but what about the gate?"

Remilia stares at the ones close by to Meiling and says "it'll be alright."

Sakuya bows again, then heads down to Meiling. Remilia stares down and notices Budou and Ail, and with a very serious expression on her face she thinks "someone is about to meet their fate... but I can't tell who..."

A scent reaches her, turning her full attention to Ail, who is hiding behind a bush, while smiling and staring toward the mansion.

Remilia drools and says "again... It's happening again!"

As fast as she can, Remilia flies back to her mansion and breaks through one of the windows.

Meanwhile, Sanae flies high above the fight, while Reimu takes a direct approach and shouts "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING FIGHTING AGAIN!?"

Flandre stops and looks at Reimu, but Kimi unleashes one last attack that Sanae intercepts after diving from above, and with a cocky smile on her face, she shakes her finger at the dragon and says "nah-ah. Let Reimu sort this out, ok?"

Kimi rushes to Sanae, opening her mouth widely as she does, but stops just inches away from Sanae, then sniffs her.

She turns back to her human form and says "you should have told me you came with Reimu. I was about to eat you."

Sanae smiles, her face turning pale and her cheeks turning blue as she softly says "you don't say... heh heh."

After Kimi turns back to human, Reimu strictly says "alright, ladies, I'm giving you a choice. Either CUT IT OUT, or I'll 'cut it out' FOR you!"

Flandre flies close to Reimu and stares at her with an innocent look.

Reimu sweats and asks "wh-what? Do I have something on me?"

Flandre's eyes sparkle as she smiles and gasps with excitement, then exclaims "MOM~! Mama, you're home!!!"

Before Reimu can say another word, Flandre clings on the her, wrapping her arms around Reimu's waist and rubbing her face on Reimu's belly.

Nervous, Reimu asks "wa-wa-what's going ON here!?"

Flandre cries "mama~, I was looking all over for you! I cut my finger, and came looking for you, but you weren't home, then this dragon says she's going to teach me a lesson, and then you came back!"

Reimu wants to push Flandre away, but after looking into her sad, glassy eyes she can't help but feel at ease, and without realizing it, she finds herself holding Flandre against herself, lighting rubbing the back of her head and saying "it's alright already... Geez, what should I do now?"

Kimi and Sanae approach Reimu, Sanae struggling to hold her urge to tease Reimu, while Kimia bows and says "miss Hakurei, I am sorry for all this, but this little monster started attacking me and telling me I killed her mom. Geez, what a nuisance!"

Reimu stares a bit angrily to Kimi, but sighs and says "well whatever. I'll take care of this from here."

Kimi taps Reimu's shoulder with her hand and says "miss, I can't find Kali anywhere."

Reimu turns to face Kimi and says "that's not good news, Kimi. Unlike you, she doesn't have any honor. Please, do whatever you can to find..."

Flandre suddenly lets Reimu go and turns around, firing a large orb that strikes Kimi on the face.

The dragon brushes off the steam clouds that rise from her cheeks, then growls and starts shooting many large fire orbs at Flandre, just as she pushes Reimu away and turns her attention to Kimi.

Sanae swoops from above and places a barrier in front of Kimi, while Reimu does the same for Flandre, shouting "NO MORE FIGHTING!"

-

Meanwhile, at the mansion's gates, after the bullets stop falling to the ground, Sakuya is slowly losing her patience as she forces a smile and forces herself to speak tenderly, saying "come on Meiling. I'm giving you the day off. You can go to your room and rest and do whatever you want."

Meiling continue to pet Chen, who has fallen asleep on Meiling's lap while purring.

Sakuya sighs angrily, then says "look, I'm trying to be nice here, but you're not making it easy. Answer me already."

Meiling turns a neutral face to Sakuya, and sounding a bit annoyed she asks "do you even like me?"

Sakuya is caught by surprise, but she quickly shakes it off and says "what kind of question is that!? Come on, I'm giving you a day off here!"

Meiling turns her face away and says "you don't like me... Leave me alone!"

Sakuya sweats as she gets closer, but Meiling punches the wall behind her, startling Sakuya, however she startles Chen as well, so the nekomata screams and runs away.

Meiling desperately shouts "kitty~! Wait, don't go!"

Sakuya sighs, then says "now look what you did."

Meiling's eyes hide under her hair as she slowly gets up with a serious look on her face, and after turning herself to face Sakuya she reveals great rage in her eyes.

Sakuya backs away and asks "Meiling, what's with that look!?"

Meiling screams to the air, startling even Flandre and causing her to hug Reimu tight, then points at Sakuya and shouts "you HATE ME~! You made the kitty go away! She liked me, and you hate me! You will pay for that!"

Sakuya pulls her Luna Dial from her left pocket, along with some knives from the right one, then scoffs and says "don't do something you'll be sorry about."

Meiling raises her fist and throws the first punch, however Sakuya disappears and reappears right behind Meiling.

The gate guard loses her balance and falls, avoiding Sakuya's knives from behind by accident, then gets up and looks to the mansion.

She clenches her fist and says "you coward! You ran inside, didn't you!? I'll find you! You are going to pay for hurting that kitty!"

Meiling runs inside the mansion, ignoring Sakuya as she shouts "Meiling, you idiot, I'm right here!"

Sakuya sighs and crosses her arms under her chest, and looking worried she says "this is not good. She didn't even sense me. Who knows the damage she could cause in this state!"

Sakuya nods and says to herself "I better go after her."

-

At the island shores, Ail, Budou and Lily all come out of hiding after the shower of bullets stops.

Koishi and Phredia relax as they turn to their friends, then Koishi smiles and says "looks like they took care of everything without problems."

Budou sighs with relief and says "good. But I wonder why miss Reimu made us bring papa along."

From the trees above Agava says "who knows. Maybe he's her backup plan."

Budou and Koishi look up, then Koishi says "oh, miss Agava, miss Rumia."

Budou asks "Agava? She looks so different. Did you lose weight?"

Agava jumps from the branch and raises a fist to Budou, shouting "you want me to smack you!", while Budou turns away with a mischievous smile, covering her head and sticking out her tongue.

Rumia gets their attention, asking "is that his body, or his mind?"

Budou and Agava curiously look to Rumia as she smiles and sits on the branch, then Koishi asks "Where is Ail?"

Before Budou panics, they hear a light splash and Lily exclaiming "it's spring!"

On the lake's shore, Ail is jumping on top of the water, while Lily, Cirno and Daiyousei fly around him, all having fun and giggling, Cirno saying "I can walk on the water too!"

She freezes a bit of water, then stands on the frozen patch, boastfully saying "you can't beat this!"

Budou worriedly shouts "papa, how are you doing that!?"

Suddenly, a large fireball falls and explodes next to Koishi, Budou and Agava, sending all three to different directions.

Budou falls on her face, closer to the shore and away from the cover of the trees, and while trying to recover, three more fireballs the size of one of Flandre's extra-large orbs head straight to where Budou is.

When Budou manages to lift her head and see the large fireballs headed her way, she tries to get up, but quickly finds out her left wing is badly injured and freezes in place, pain, fear and anxiety taking over her senses.

Out of the bushes, Chen flies straight to the closest fireball and shreds it to pieces with a single swipe of her claws, but finds herself blowing on her burned hands after falling back down.

Some ice shards and petal bullets fly toward the second fireball, miss it, but manage to blast the third out of the way and veer the second one away from Budou, but is now headed straight to Ail, who is running to Budou with a worried expression.

Budou realizes the ball of flames is going to strike Ail and gets a boost of courage that allows her to get off the ground and run straight to him, even with her injured wing.

Budou jumps in the air, shouting "PAPA, NO~!"

Budou and Ail are mere inches away from each other when they realize the large fireball is even larger than they thought and is about to impact them both when a small sparkle seems to enter the fireball itself.

A large explosion rattles the island, and in what seems like an instant, the explosion sucks itself in, then stops.

Koishi runs along with Agava, saying "not good. This is definitely not good!"

Agava nods and says "save your breath and run!"

Koishi, Agava, Lily, Cirno and Daiyousei all arrive to the center of the explosion and find Ail covering Budou up as best as he can, a little singed from the blast, and Budou lying underneath him with some blood trickling down the back-side of her left wing.

Budou gets up as Lily worriedly asks "you alright!?"

Ail smiles and waves, but Budou rubs her head and weakly asks "where is she?"

She looks around, looking to her concerned friends, then asks "where is Phredia?"

Budou starts to breath faster as she looks around, hoping to find her fairy amongst her friends, and looking between Chen and Koishi to her left, she notices a small dark-blue dress buried under some dirt.

Desperately, Budou crawls through her friends and straight to the dress and immediately sticks her hand in the pile of dust and gently lifts off the elven fairy, her wings twitching, her entire body burned and her tiny eyes narrowly open.

Budou whispers "no. You're ok! You are ok!", but Phredia's dim glow shuts off and the tiny fairy collapses with a smile on her face.

Just as her friends surround her, all staring quietly with saddened faces, Budou places the fairy to her chest, where she turns into a tiny golden light orb that sinks itself into Budou's chest.

Koishi kneels down next to the shocked bat youkai and places her hand on her shoulder and forcing a smile she says "she's alright... She's going to hide for a while, but you'll see her soon."

Budou stares at Koishi, then looks around to her friends, and lastly at Ail, then turns back to Koishi and starts to cry on her shoulders.

-

From above the trees, Sanae desperately shouts "BUDOU~! What happened!?"

Reimu holds Flandre like a toddler and is followed by Kimi as they descend, then angrily says "dammit, this is why I didn't want you to come!"

Budou continues to cry, even though Chen and Lily are patting her back and head, along with Koishi who continues to hold Budou, all trying their best to calm her down and stop her from crying.

Sanae lands, and sounding more agitated she asks "what happened!? Why is she crying like that!? Budou!?"

Sanae notices the blood on her left wing and gasps, but before she can inspect it, Budou turns around, revealing her tear-filled eyes, her red cheeks and the look of despair in her eyes, then jumps on Sanae, calling out to her mama for comfort.

Saddened, Koishi forces a smile and says "little fairy, so brave and bold."

Agava notices the confusion in Sanae's eyes and bluntly says "a tiny fairy with pointy ears took on a huge fireball to save the little girl and the boy."

Rumia continues to smile as she says "she is so brave."

Reimu glares at Kimi, and sounding nervous, Kimi says "it was an accident!"

Flandre tugs Reimu's skirt, then asks "mom, why is that girl crying so much? It's making me want to cry too."

Reimu pats Flandre's head and says "that child has lost so much in such little time, and for someone so young, she's proven to be very strong."

Flandre looks confused, but before she asks, Reimu says "she has gone through a lot, Flandre. Besides, there is no shame in crying. It's a way for the soul to speak through our bodies."

Flandre looks to Reimu's eyes, but keeps quiet, holding back the urge to cry as well.

From the other side of the shore, Marisa approaches the waters, out of breath after her run through Gensokyo.

She looks to the shores, panting "I *pant pant* made it!"

She notices Reimu and quickly hides behind a tree, then thinks "Reimu! She's safe! Oh, if she stays here long enough, Mima-sama will cool off and leave her alone."

Marisa peeks through the right side of the tree, and with longing in her face she says "Reimu, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I swear... I'm going to fix all this, just please, forgive me!"

A single tear falls from her left cheek, but she steels herself, fills herself with resolve and thinks "now it's not the time! I'm going to have to take the other side. Reimu, just you wait! I'll fix everything."

She runs along the shores at a normal pace, so as not to attract Reimu's attention, heading to the western side of the shores, but unknown to her, all the way on the other side, Reimu already knows she's there, keeping quiet and thinking "Marisa, you dummy. What are you doing out here? It's dangerous for you..."

-

Inside the void, Ail's soul turns to a deep-blue color and sighs, then the dragon guardian says "ah, little one. I sense a memory coming back to you."

Ail sadly says "I'm not sure. Somehow, I feel as though something terrible has happened... and I was hoping it was just my imagination."

The dragon keeps quiet for a moment, then says "perhaps you should concentrate on the returning memory. Don't let yourself wander needlessly elsewhere. Focus on those memories, and the here and now."

Ail sighs, then says "if this is a memory, I wish it would just disappear."

Curiously, the dragon asks "really? Want to share it with me?"

Ail sight sadly again, then says "it seems when I was younger, I used to live in that horrible world, outside of Gensokyo. And I must say... it was just as horrible."

The dragon quietly stares, then after a bit, Ail continues "when I was younger, I see myself trapped inside a large building. Inside, there were many rooms, all with little chairs with tables on them... and in the center of the rooms, there was a bigger human... talking about names, years, and numbers..."

Ail looks away, then the dragon says "that particular thought is a fabrication."

Ail looks back at the dragon and smiles, then says "th-that's right. I remember now. Things like flying and magic are treated as the 'impossible' in that world. The teacher... yes, that's what we called the person talking. There were more than just one, but they would all tell me that magic is just in fantasy stories, and that I shouldn't believe in that. But the ones I didn't believe... was the teachers."

The dragon sighs and says "there are many beings living in different worlds and dimensions. Sometimes, souls like us tend to end up in the wrong place to live... but we must move on, regardless. You were gifted by fate, little human. You were allowed to enter the world that was meant for you, as was I."

Ail scoffs and says "then that would explain why I was always alone out there. It's like, even when I was little, I was always away from the others, dreaming of magic. As I grew older... I see this pattern repeats itself... until one day... This human approached me, and protected me from other humans. They were... pushing me and calling me names. I was 12 years old when Kyo~..."

Ail stops and looks at the dragon, turning gold and excitedly saying "my friend! I did have a friend... I mean, I DO have a friend. Kyo! Then that means these Satori, Sanae and Budou are real too!"

The dragon smiles and happily says "good, good. You have taken your first step to self recovery. Now, I want you to empty your mind, little human. There is still more for you to remember before we begin with your journey to Gensokyo."

Ail suddenly starts changing colors and asks "there's more?"

The dragon nods, then says "you remembered your childhood and a very important friend to you. But you are still forgetting something very important from the world of the humans. Something that nothing can sever from your heart."

Ail curiously asks "whoa... is it really that important?"

The dragon nods, then says "empty your mind. Meditate. These important memories will come to you. I promise."

-

Back at the shores of the Scarlet Devil's Island, Budou has fallen into a deep sleep and Sanae has managed to wrap the root of her left wing in a bandage, stopping the bleeding.

Reimu approaches Sanae and gently places a hand on her shoulder and softly says "look, the incident's been solved, so why don't you take Budou and Ail and go home."

As Reimu finishes her sentence, Flandre lets go of her and exclaims "daddy, is that you!? DADDY, IT IS YOU~!"

Before Reimu can grab her and ask, Flandre flings herself to ward Ail and hugs him tightly, saying "daddy, what a ridiculous disguise."

Koishi smiles and is about to comment, but Remilia and Sakuya come flying from one of the windows and from inside the mansion Meiling shouts "FINE, I'll go to my room! Geez, you're worse than my MOM!"

Rubbing their heads as Lily White springs out of the bushes, holding Remilia's umbrella already open and covering Remilia from the rays of the sun, Sakuya and Remilia get up, then Sakuya comments "well, at least she went to her room."

Remilia dusts her skirt and looking slightly annoyed she says "Sakuya, I just got kicked out of my OWN castle by a SERVANT! What will people think?"

Before Reimu is able to answer, Agava says "that you're pathetic?"

Reimu and Remilia both glare at the shadow youkai, one because she stole her line, the other because she answered too bluntly.

Agava reads the atmosphere and slowly backs away, then Reimu says "well I'm glad you're here. We seem to have a little problem.", then points at Flandre, who is hugging Ail's neck as he stares blankly toward Chen.

Remilia sweats as she stares at Flandre, then walks to her, sighs and places her arm on her sister's shoulders, then says "Flandre, please wake up. Mom and dad are gone, and you know this already."

Flandre ignores Remilia and continues to hold Ail, then let go of his neck and grabs his hand, pulling him toward Reimu and saying "c-come on, onee-s...chan. J-just like before. Family time with mom and dad."

Remilia sighs and sounding saddened, says "Flandre... don't make this harder than it already is."

Some tears escape Flandre as she pulls Reimu and Ail closer together and says "but... but... mom... and dad."

Remilia trembles as flickers of old memories flash by her mind, at first, showing images of two adults, whose face hide under shadow, stand beside herself and a very happy-looking Flandre, then the flashes progress further, the adults gone, but Flandre still smiles, then suddenly, Flandre's smile is replaced by a maddened look, then she disappears.

Remilia raises her face, however her eyes hide under shadow as she raises her hand to Flandre and says "don't leave me alone again, Flan. Stop all of this and come home."

Though still smiling, Flandre can't hold back her tears, and slowly, she loosens her grip on Ail and Reimu, then from behind, Koishi places an arm on her shoulder and says "your real parents are never gone, no matter what others may say. As long as you are alive, they live inside you."

Flandre releases Reimu and Ail, then looks at Ail and whispers "idiot big brother... Even without your brain, you're still bothering me."

Remilia looks confused to Flandre, and while Sakuya takes the umbrella from Lily's hands, Remilia says "Flan, don't leave me all alone again."

Flandre sighs and shrugs, then says "geez. And you're supposed to be one with all the charisma."

A vein pops on Remilia's forehead as she glares at Flandre and asks "what the hell did you just say to me!?"

Flandre giggles and says "I came to my sense when I saw dummy-big-brother. I just..."

Flandre's arms tremble as she clenches her fists and says "after red and white sis acted like mom... I wanted it to stay like that, even if just for a little while."

Flandre turns to Reimu and bows, saying "thank you very much. I won't forget that warm feeling again."

Reimu smiles sheepishly, but then she sighs and pats Flandre on the head. Flandre walks to Remilia, stops in front of her, then bow and says "I'm ok now, onee-sama. I'm sorry to have been such a burden."

Looking serious, Remilia lifts Flandre's face, holding her chin on her hand, then lightly shakes her head and says "let's just go home."

-

As Remilia, Sakuya and Flandre head back inside the mansion, Remilia walks backward, looks neutrally and waves at Reimu, saying "thanks for everything!", then turns around and continues to the mansion with Sakuya and Flandre beside her.

Reimu sighs and says "finally. I can get back to those books now."

Sanae holds the sleeping Budou on her arms and seems a little annoyed as she gets closer to Reimu and asks "you didn't get any funny ideas, right?"

Reimu smirks, then says "I don't know what you are talking about."

Sanae gets a little agitated, but Koishi points to the sleeping Budou on Sanae's arms and says "miss, you don't want to wake her up!"

Sanae calms down and sighs, then says "you're right. I'm sorry. Anyway, where's Ail and Chen?"

Both maidens look around a little worried, but spot Kimi pointing toward the lake, and when they take a look, Chen is angrily shouting "give me back my hat!", while Ail skates on the water and Lily, Cirno and Daiyousei fly in circles around Chen and switching to Ail, Cirno holding Chen's hat and taunting the nekomata.

Sanae and Reimu stare awestruck, then ask at the same time "how is he DOING that!?"

Koishi smiles as she stands between the maidens and says "he's flying just right, making it look like he's walking on the water."

At the same time, Sanae and Reimu say "ohh, I get it now."

Kimi approaches Reimu and says "Hakurei Maiden, will you allow me permission to enter the Human's Village to search for Kali?"

Reimu hums while she thinks, then says "I better go with you. I have something to do at the village."

Meanwhile, at the other side of the lake, facing the shores to the other side, away from where Reimu is, Marisa pulls up her hat and from under it a forest-green bag pops out.

As she opens it, she says "well, I've read how it's done, now I just hope I can do this!"

She pulls something out of her bag and raises her right hand while holding her hip with her left, putting on a very serious expression on her face, and floating just above her head are the wooden ovals from under her cabinet.

After the unexplainable display, Marisa blushes and says "so glad nobody saw that."

She grabs the ovals and taps each on the rough top, revealing tight transparent bands nailed on to the sides, then sits down and struggles for a moment as she slips her shoes through those bands.

After she gets up, she feels taller, then comments "well, I somehow feel more confident for some reason, ze."

She looks up and spots Sanae carrying Budou, and followed by Ail, Chen, Lily and Koishi, all flying away to the Youkai Mountain, and shortly after, Reimu, Kimi and Agava fly fast toward the Village.

Marisa says to herself "darn it! If I had known they were leaving already! *Sigh* Well, whatever. Now it's time to test my balance."

Marisa walks to the shore, making sure not to scratch the smoothed bottom of the ovals, and just before touching the water, she takes a deep breath and says "well... here goes nothing."

She places her right foot on the water, and immediately she loses her balance, waving her arms rapidly in the air, while swaying and bending her whole body, putting on a ridiculous scared face until she finally regains her balance.

She takes a deep breath, then says "alright. Here... I... GO!"

She impulses herself to the water and starts to skate on it.

At first, she clenches her eyes tight and hopes she won't end up drowning, however she manages to keep her balance as she skates through the water, and after realizing she's alright she opens her eyes and excitedly exclaims "YES! I'm doing it, da-ze!"

She places both arms behind her back and continues to skate the waters, but instead of heading straight to the other side of shore, the takes a left turn and skates toward Cirno and Daiyousei, happily waving at them and having a great time.

The two fairies gasps with amazement, then follow after Marisa as she continues to skate the waters.

Cirno flies closer to the water, then freezes it and makes a trail for herself, skating along with Marisa, saying "this is EASY!"

She giggles and turns her sight to Marisa, and with a cocky smile she says "I can do this with my eyes closed!"

Daiyousei says "Cirno-chan, you'll get hurt!"

Marisa Chuckles and says "keep your eyes on me, little fairy!", then jumps and spins in the air, then lands and continues to skate.

Cirno pouts and puffs her red cheeks, then sounding a bit unsure she says "w-watch! I'll do it with my eyes closed!"

Before Daiyousei can protest, Cirno closes her eyes and jumps, but forgets to freeze the water in front and falls into the water with a quick yelp, then continues to spin on her back after she floats back up in a daze.

Marisa laughs hard and says "try again, amateur!", but forgets to look in front of her and spins in the air after colliding with the island's shore, landing hard on the ground and moaning in pain.

She manages to sit up and rubs her head, then says "uu~, I better be more careful next time, or I'll end up like that idiot, ze."

From above, flying aimlessly in the sky is a black round blob that asks "is that so~!?"

A silver washtub falls into the black blob, making a loud clank, accompanied by a painful grunt, then the blob vanishes and Rumia falls straight to the ground below, exploding hard upon crashing, while three giggles echo around the area.

-

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, Mima shouts "she sealed Marisa's power! I don't think that's funny at all!"

Rika looks desperately toward Mima, and sounding twice as desperate she shouts "she must have had a reason! Miss Mima, please don't don this! Even if you ARE right..."

Mima summons her crescent moon staff and vanishes from Rika's eyes.

Rika looks around, but before she is able to sense her, Mima reappears from behind and strikes Rika on the back of the head, knocking her out and catching her before she falls.

She places the unconscious shrine maid on the ground, then says "this doesn't concern you at all, so butt out!"

She glares outside the shrine and clenches her teeth as she angrily growls, then shouts "and you two better keep out of this, or I am going to have to kill you! You got that!?"

From the roof, both Aya and Suika stare seriously down to the front of the open entrance, but neither one says anything.

Back on the ground, Mima rests on the shrine's porch next to the open entrance and angrily stares toward the trees, waiting for Reimu to return.

-

To be continued...

Characters, Spell cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Kyo, Budou, Phredia, Agava, Dai-Drecon, Kimi and Kali were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

MAR 21 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.


	8. Chapter 8

It's early morning, and the three little mischievous fairies fly above Alice's house, giggling and snickering amongst themselves.

A blur flies by and leaves a roll of newspaper in front of the door, and out of the sky, a second roll of newspaper flies straight to the door, making a loud thump after hitting the door itself.

Inside her room, on the comfort of her bed, Alice tosses and turns, sweating coldly, looking as though she is under a lot of pain, when in reality, inside her mind, she is seeing certain events...

Alice suddenly finds herself right in front of Marisa's empty house.

She looks around and tries to call for Marisa, but no sound comes out of her.

Even though it seems empty she enters the house, and finds it really is empty, except for the small steps heading to the door that leads to Marisa's new basement, so she follows.

She slowly opens the door, and after getting inside, she spots the gate with the swirling vortex in the middle.

She opens her eyes wide and exclaims "what the hell? Marisa, what the hell have you done!?"

She gets closer to the vortex and realizing it's sucking in air, she gasps and tries to run away, saying "that FOOL! I have to tell Reimu... gyah~!"

She trips and quickly finds herself being sucked inside the vortex, and once in it she realizes she's inside a large void.

She calls for help, but her voice fails her again, so she decides to investigate, and heads straight toward the small light at the end of the large black tunnel.

The more the walks, the farther it seems to be, however, a small turn-color flame gets her attention, and quickly she sees a large black and white flame enter the same room and sit in front of the small turn-color flame.

She flinches and thinks of turning back, but when she looks at the small flame she asks "Ail, is that you?"

Suddenly, Alice feels as though she is inside a tube, being forcefully sucked out of the void, and a deep, calm and wise voice says to her "not yet. We have only just begun his healing. Come back in a few days, young girl."

Alice wakes up and sits on her bed in a frightful jump, her face covered in sweat, panting as though she's just run a marathon, her heart racing, beating so hard she feels as though it's going to pop out, and right after finally calming down, she notice Shikieiki and her shinigami, Komachi, standing next to her bed.

Before she is able to speak, Shikieiki says "you have seen what she has done, and now I ask you... will you help us?"

Alice wakes up on her bed again, feeling more calm, but still sweating a lot, while Shanghai and Hourai call for her.

Sounding groggy, Alice says "i-it's alright. I... just had a bad dream."

Hourai exclaims "but you looked like you were hurt!"

Shanghai cries "who hurt mom!? You just tell me and I'll throttle them!"

Alice grabs her dolls and holds them tight, then whispers "it's alright. As long as you're with me, I'll be fine."

Outside the house, Komachi smiles while standing next to Alice's window, then walks away from the house, back to Shikieiki, who says "very nice job. Now, if you were this devoted to your REAL job."

Komachi scratches the side of her head and smiling nervously, she says "th-that's... really. Um, I mean, heh heh.", then thinks "but if I do that, you'll be too stressed out."

Shikieiki sighs, then says "never mind. Marisa's moving, many trials are set in motion, and now we wait to rescue that soul and close that gate.", then she stares toward Alice's house.

Komachi looks worriedly as Shikieiki, then asks "Eiki-sama, is something wrong?"

Shikieiki sighs, then says "looks like we'll have one more trial in our hands. I just hope it doesn't break her."

Komachi silently stares back at Alice's house, wondering what Shikieiki means with those words.

-

That afternoon, after the events outside Remilia's mansion, Reimu arrives to the Human Village, accompanied by Kimi and Agava, and all three land right in front of Kyo's house.

Agava looks around curiously, while Kimi stares toward the town's center, and staring back at them are a few humans, some hidden inside their houses, while others stand on plain view as they stare at the visitors.

Kimi takes one step away, but Reimu places a hand on her shoulder and in a very serious tone says "keep your head, and try to keep trouble to a minimum."

Kimi turns her head to Reimu, then nods and quietly continues toward the town's center, followed by Agava, who says "man, this village is so boring."

Kimi replies "well, why the hell are you here, then?"

Agava quickly replies "chief's orders."

Reimu sighs and asks herself "I wonder if I did the right thing...", then she turns around toward Kyo's house and says "well, I have my own business to attend to."

She walks to the house's porch, and just as her knuckle reaches the door, from inside Medicine shouts "HEY~! Who ate my dumplings!? Kyo, you hog, I was saving them!"

Kyo shouts back "who the HELL are you calling a hog, you little imp!"

Medicine replies "watch it~! Still, why do you eat EVERYTHING in this house!?"

Kyo threateningly says "so you really want me to kick you back to that hill, don't you."

Medicine sniffles, then suddenly cries out loud, and from the second floor, Luna, though sounding playful, her voice emanates an ominous feeling as she says "Kyo~ You better stop picking on her~!"

Still holding her knuckle to the door, Reimu sighs and says "geez. I better just get it over with."

She knocks the door twice, and immediately Medicine opens the door, then stares at Reimu and says "Kyo~! You got a guest!"

Looking bored and sounding uninterested, Kyo approaches the door and says "Reimu. This is a surprise. Come on in, I'll..."

Before he continues, Reimu says "this isn't a social visit."

Kyo stares, then suddenly his expression changes to concern when he looks into Reimu's eyes, urgency ever present in them.

Reimu continues "look, I need your help. I am certain you felt that magical shockwave, correct?"

Kyo nods, but then gets mad and says "look, Reimu, I am human, and you know that. How the hell am I even supposed to..."

Reimu grabs him by his shirt, and in a sudden rage she pushes him against the wall beside the doorway and angrily says "I don't want to hear excuses, Kyo! Listen, I can't count on youkai! Even those that are friend are bound to ignore the incidents that are happening. I need a human friend, and you are the only one available!"

Kyo looks a little scared toward Reimu, but calms down and asks "but what about Maris-"

Reimu's eyes hide under a dark shadow as she shouts "SHE CAN'T HELP!"

Their eyes meet once more, then Reimu releases Kyo and with a cracking voice she says "I am going to tell you something, and after I do, I want you to promise me you'll do your best to help!"

Kyo glares back, wanting to complain, but he realizes Reimu is holding back on something, however he can't tell what it is.

All he knows it is something of great importance, so he keeps quiet and nods.

Reimu sighs, then says "alright, listen up..."

-

From one of the trees directly in front of Kyo's house, a pair of brown eyes glare straight toward Reimu and Kyo, and while she speaks, Kyo exclaims and shouts incoherently.

The onlooker continues to stare, then says "so~ even that maiden has a heart. Pheh, humans. They're so, like, pathetic and weak. Still, this is a really good story. Front page material, even."

After Reimu finishes her tale, Kyo places a hand on his eyes, hiding a hate-filled rage as he asks "and he's... alive?"

Reimu nods and says "but he's acting subconsciously. Right now, he's only answering to Sanae and Budou, so it's useless to even talk to him."

Kyo waves his hand in front of Reimu, signaling her to stop, then uncovers his eyes and looking straight at Reimu he says "I will help you out as best as I can, but I will remind you, my powers are minimal compared to Ail's, or anybody else."

Reimu looks surprised at Kyo, then says "wait a minute.... humility!? Since when did YOU learn that?"

A vein pulsates on Kyo's forehead as he threateningly says "I can still kick butts, you know!"

Reimu laughs for some time, then says "ok, alright, I get it!"

Both turn serious again, then Reimu calmly says "then I'll be back at the shrine. If there is something too big, you come and get me."

Kyo nods, and after exchanging glances, Reimu lifts to the air, then says "oh, Kimi and Agava are looking for Kali in the village. Keep an eye on them!", then flies away.

Kyo grumbles as he thinks about what Reimu told him, all sinking slowly into his mind, while Luna stares at him from the window with a mischievous smile, then says "well, it seems we have work, huh?"

Kyo sighs and sounding a bit annoyed he says "sure looks that way. And from what I can tell, this could turn very ugly, very soon."

Luna sighs and says "well, you have me, and I will help you. You know that."

Medicine and Su-San peek from the doorway, then Medicine says "then that means you get to have some help from me and Su-San. You are so~ lucky!"

Kyo turns away from them and smiles, then says "I'll keep an eye out on Agava and that Kimi Reimu just mentioned."

Luna immediately adds "any sign of trouble..." she flicks a silver strand of hair from her face and finishes saying "...I'll come and save your hide."

Kyo smiles and pulls out the amplifier belt, revealing the amplifier itself to look like an elegant belt buckle, then flies away toward the town's center while putting the belt on.

Luna quietly stares on, then says "I think we better contact Momiji."

Medicine nods with a smile.

-

In the Scarlet Devil Mansion, after easily going through the gates, since Meiling is missing from her post, and easily sneaking through to the basement, since the fairy maids and Sakuya all seem to be scattered around, Marisa walks straight to Flandre's room.

She hears a strange noise, however it's simply a bit of dust that falls from the ceiling, and after shaking off the sudden scare she says to herself "geez, this place is even creepier without the fairy maids. I wonder what's going on here?"

When she stops talking, she hears a girl, crying and sobbing from deeper into the basement corridor.

She feels an ominous energy, and thinks "whoa. Even I could feel that, and I don't have any magic. I better hide!", and as quickly as she can, she rushes inside Patchouli's library.

A few seconds later, her eyes and cheeks full of tears and her hair a dirty mess, Meiling walks by, sobbing and crying, repeating "they hate me, I hate them. They hate me, I hate them."

She looks to the library's door and reaches for it, then suddenly opens it and shouts "Patchouli~!! Why do you hate me so much~!?", expelling a powerful aura that sends even Marisa flying a few feet in the air.

After struggling to get up, Marisa Realizes Meiling is standing right next to her, breathing heavily and crying.

She stands perfectly still while looking up to Meiling's distraught eyes, then Meiling angrily says "YOU! You hate me the MOST! I hate you too! I'm going to kill you!"

Marisa yelps and jumps away just as Meiling tries to punch her, and after noticing the large hole on the floor left by Meiling's punch, Marisa exclaims "whoa! Meiling, take it easy! I-I don't hate you!"

Thanks to the enhancements she did to her shoes, Marisa's jump made it seem as though she's flying on her own, however, unable to control the fall, Marisa is still airborne when Meiling jumps to her in the blink of an eye.

Marisa thinks "dammit, I don't remember her being this fast. Perhaps it was my magic. Crap, I need my magic now!"

Meiling grabs Marisa by her shirt and forces her to face her directly as she says with a cracking voice "you just like to bully me. You truly hate me!", then tosses Marisa straight toward the sharp edge of one of the bookshelves.

Marisa screams, unable to control herself as she forcefully flies toward the hard edge, and as she approaches the bookshelf she thinks "dammit! Didn't that yama say I could use my magic when in danger? I'm in danger, so why is nothing working!? I need help! Someone help!"

Even though she thinks it, she's too proud to call for help and thinks of any possible way to save herself, but luck is on her side, and finds herself inside a giant water bubble made by Patchouli, who casually flies toward Marisa and calmly says "you picked a really bad time to come and steal my books."

Marisa wants to thank Patchouli for saving her, feeling incredible relief from the fear she was just feeling mere seconds ago, however Patchouli's comment makes her a little mad, so she shouts "I didn't come to steal ANYTHING!!! I and I haven't stolen a thing! You can HAVE all your books back after I'm dead!"

Patchouli hums, then Meiling start to cry louder and louder, and in an instant, Sakuya and a few fairy maids appears just in front of Meiling. The gate guard stops crying, but continues sobbing.

Sakuya looks back for a moment and says "Ma- *pant* Marisa, l-lady Patchouli *pant*. Let me handle this."

Meiling suddenly screams "you saw, miss Patchouli! You saw it all! Sakuya mistreats me! It's UNFAIR!"

Sakuya calmly says "Meiling, you know very well I haven't mistreated you once. In fact, you KNOW you earned those punishments."

Meiling stops and thinks, then smiles and says "oh, you're right..."

Her smile turns into a frown almost immediately, then shouts "it's the MAIDS!!! They are making FUN OF ME!"

Meiling suddenly flies away, and Sakuya, even though she's exhausted and out of breath, points to the door and shouts "fairies, after her!"

The fairy maids salute Sakuya, then go after Meiling.

Before Sakuya leaves, Patchouli says "Sakuya, you need to rest. You are exhausted. Remember that you are still human!"

Sakuya turns her face side-ways to Patchouli, and with a smile on her face she says "don't worry, miss Patchouli. I'll be fine!", then flies out the door after Meiling.

-

After the library settles down, Patchouli and Marisa are close to the floor when Patchouli pops the bubble with a pin and Marisa falls straight to the ground on her back, getting wet as all that water lands right on her.

As she gets up, Patchouli calmly says "so you truly lost your magic after all. For a moment, I thought I was losing my own powers."

Marisa looks a little surprised, but then smiles and says "I knew trying to hide that from you would be pointless, ze."

Patchouli stares at Marisa, then says "even so, you still came here, knowing well enough how dangerous this place is for common humans. Perhaps you need help?"

Marisa grabs Patchouli by her shoulders and looks into her eyes, showing despair on her own, then says "I did something really stupid and got sealed. Patchouli, is there anything that could break this seal?"

Patchouli stares back as casual as ever, but after looking into Marisa's eyes she sighs and says "the seal placed on you is far too powerful. Even if I could do something to break it, doing so will destroy you, and not JUST in body."

Marisa loosens her grip on Patchouli and looks away, hiding her disappointed eyes with her hat, then says "I guess she was right after all. Oh well, it never hurts to ask..."

Patchouli continues to stare at Marisa, then says "I see. So asking me for help was actually your backup plan."

Marisa holds her hat by its brim with her right hand, and lifting a smiling face she says "I was hoping to ask Flandre for help. If she can help me, I can at least move around with ease. If she lends me that flying machine of hers, I can fix my mistake and return everything to normal, da-ze!"

Patchouli lets out a small smile and a soft giggle, then says "I see. Then you are very lucky she's back to normal. She almost killed me yester..."

Patchouli stops talking, then looks out her window.

It's already dark by now, and some lights come from the Hakurei Shrine.

Patchouli narrows her eyes and while looking out she says "odd..." Marisa stares to the window, then Patchouli continues "there's a pretty heavy battle being held at the shrine."

Marisa opens her eyes wide as she gasps and exclaims "Mima-sama!"

-

Moments earlier, Reimu arrives to the shrine and finds it eerily quiet.

The lights are still off and not even the wind against the trees makes a sound.

She prepares her gohei and approaches the open doors, calling "Rika! Are you there?"

There's no answer, except for the chirp of a small sparrow on a tree branch.

Reimu glares at the bird and says "so it's you. What did you do this time?"

The Rabid Karate Night Sparrow ruffles his feathers and tweets twice.

Reimu turns her sight to the left, and in a flash she finds herself blocking Mima's crescent moon staff with her gohei from the right.

Clenching her teeth and glaring with fury, Mima tries to strike again, but Reimu easily deflects the staff and counters with a forward kick.

Mima disappears before the kick hits her, then her raging voice echoes all over the shrine as she asks "why!? Why the hell did you do that to her?"

Reimu looks around, keeping a very serious expression on her face, but doesn't answer.

Mima reappears right behind the maiden and swings her staff with all her might, slicing a few strands of hair from Reimu's head after she dodges the attack, then shouts "why the HELL did you seal her powers!? You KNOW how important that is to her! You KNOW it's her only defense against the youkai! Why in hell's blazes would you do that!?"

Reimu keeps quiet, rolling on the ground, avoiding Mima's continuous attacks and countering as best she can every chance she gets.

Mima stops and shouts "so you think it was FUN!? Is that it? You know, you've been abusing your powers and your stature a little too much, and I, for once, am TIRED of it! I'll enjoy separating that head from your body!"

Rage takes Reimu senses and goes for the attack, using her gohei to try and strike Mima, and while their weapons collide Reimu shouts "you stupid ghost, are you even LISTENING to yourself!? You don't even know what happened, so don't spew that crap out now!"

Reimu tries to strike Mima hard, but the spirit manages to deflect the attack, sending Reimu flying back.

Reimu spins in the air and lands on her feet a good 5 feet away from Mima, and pulling out some charms and needles with her left hand she shouts "you have some guts saying all that! Do you think I enjoyed doing that!? Do you really believe I'd do something like that to my BEST FRIEND, just for a few cheap laughs!? I am not you!"

Mima pulls out a spell card and says "Orrery's Sun", and while four orbs, green, blue, red and yellow, spin around the enraged spirit she says "of course. Why else would you do that? Give me one good reason you went and sealed off Marisa's magic!"

Suika and Aya, who are hiding on the roof of the shrine, gasp and look at each other in surprise.

Reimu clenches her teeth so tight, she feels as though they are about to break, but doesn't care.

Even with that spell active, Reimu blindly rushes to Mima and tries to strike the spirit with her gohei, but Mima disappears and quickly reappears a few feet behind Reimu, firing 4 laser beams, one from each orb, however Reimu tosses her needles and amulets, and all explode after they come in contact with the piercing lasers, raising a thick smoke curtain.

From the other side of the curtain, Reimu shouts "you have NO IDEA about ANYTHING! I didn't have the choice! Your 'apprentice' did something very stupid, even for her, and I ended up having to seal her!"

Mima shouts "you're just coming up with the greatest excuse ever, aren't you!?"

Reimu flies straight at Mima, coming through the smoke curtain as fast as possible, pointing the tip of her gohei at Mima's face and glaring back at Mima with great rage.

Mima blocks the attack, then Reimu suddenly disappears and reappears sliding underneath Mima, her foot covered in an orange aura as she makes Mima trip and fall on her face.

Reimu takes the chance and summons her yin-yang orbs to her and fires glowing red charms at Mima, making her fly away after they all explode with great force.

Mima's spell is cancelled out, but she manages to flip in the air to face Reimu, then lands safely on the ground and poofs a pair of feet under a long blue skirt, then stands up straight and points at Reimu, then menacingly says "I'll make you pay for what you did to her!"

-

Mima and Reimu exchange powerful danmaku blasts and heavy blows as night creeps out on them, and the only thing lighting their view is their danmaku, glowing charms and lasers.

Winded, Mima and Reimu land several feet away from each other, waiting for the opponent's next move, then suddenly Reimu angrily shouts "you think I enjoyed that!? I was FORCED to do that! I warned her not to open that gate, but she did, and look at what happened!"

A single, small tear escapes Reimu's right eye as she says this, and noticing, Mima lowers her guard for a moment, however the evil spirit raises her staff again and shouts "you're just FULL of lame excuses!", then pulls a spell card and raises it above her head, and in an ominous tone of voice, she says "you should have seen her. That wound you left on her head crippled her so easily, and all she can do now is run."

Reimu clenches her teeth and glares back at Mima with rage in her eyes after hearing all that, then prepares her gohei and pulls a spell card from under her sleeve, then Mima continues "you took her life away, Reimu, and I intend to make you pay in full! Twilight, Crescent Moonlight!"

The crescent moon on Mima's staff glows yellow and 8 lasers fly out of it, each going its own direction.

The lasers bounce off trees, rocks and even the ground itself, then head straight to Reimu, who stands in place, clenching her teeth and glaring at Mima as an ominous aura surrounds her.

All the lasers pass right next to her and leave a large burn mark on the ground, however, one of the lasers passes close to Reimu's left, burning through her clothes and leaving a small cut on her waist, however Reimu continues to glare, not even flinching from the pain.

Mima laughs and says "so you're giving up? Good, cuz' here comes the SECOND WAVE!"

Another wave of bouncing lasers fly from Mima's staff, and waving her left hand across her body, Mima releases arcs of 5 medium orange orbs, and an extra-large yellow orb that comes from Mima's own body every second, all headed straight to Reimu, who continues to stand in place, glaring at Mima and holding her spell cards and gohei in hand.

Mima cackles as each and every single shot headed Reimu's way explode with great force the moment they touch Reimu, however Mima is not done, and even with the curtain of smoke covering Reimu, she jumps from where she is, points her staff down, then lunges is straight to where Reimu stands.

There is a loud impalement sound and Reimu's grunt, followed by Mima's laughter, then Mima shouts "and that's what happens when you mess with me!"

There is only silence, then Reimu shouts "Barrier, Extending Barrier!"

Mima screams out loud and the dust clears, revealing Reimu standing just to the left of Mima's attack full of cuts all over her face and body, but still glaring angrily at Mima as wave after wave of shocking barriers mercilessly punish the evil spirit.

When the spell ends and Mima falls to the ground, Reimu approaches her and sounding dangerously upset, she says "you almost got my eye", then pulls another spell card and shouts "Treasure Tool, Yin-Yan Demon God Orb!"

Before Mima is able to recover, a burning blue yin-yang orb, twice her own size, burns her very skin.

She screams to the air, wishing for the spell to end, then is suddenly flung to the air and falls away from Reimu.

Breathing heavily, Mima struggles to stand up, and sounding aggravated, she says "no, no! No way! I'm not DONE!"

After finally standing up, Mima glares back at Reimu, then a white spell card forms right in front of her, and after grabbing it she shouts "Ghostly Sign, Cold-Hearted Dead Mist!"

Mima's body and clothes turn completely white, then very suddenly, she explodes, leaving behind thick white mist clouds, leaving Reimu almost blind in the center of the mist.

Mima's voice echoes all over as she laughs and says "you really think you're all that, don't you? Face it, you always knew someday, some youkai would finish you off. Although, in all honesty, I never thought it would be me. But because I like you, Reimu, I'll let you have one last wish."

Reimu finally smiles as she flips her hair, then mockingly says "I wish for you to shut he hell up already!"

Annoyed, Mima replies "I'll make you eat those words as you choke on your own blood!"

White danmaku petals fire themselves from the mist clouds and all scatter around at random, giving Reimu a very hard time to dodge, getting grazed by many bullets, her clothes getting torn all over.

The area inside the mist clouds fills with enough danmaku to light up the night and reveal Mima's silhouette floating to Reimu's left.

Reimu smiles once more, then places a spell card on the ground, touches it with her gohei, and just as a few bullets hit her back she shouts "Divine Arts, Omnidirectional Demon Binding Circle!"

A large golden pillar reaches to the sky and strikes Mima so hard, she can't even scream.

Mima's spell cancels out, and right after Reimu's spell ends, Mima falls on her face to the ground.

Again, Mima struggles to get up, but before she manages to do so, Reimu lowers her gohei and hides her charms and amulets, then says "see that this ghost doesn't bother me again, Rika, or I will seal her off for good!"

Before Mima realizes what she means, Rika comes from behind and strikes Mima behind the head with the hilt of her family sword, leaving the spirit lying unconscious on the ground, then says "as you wish... my lady!"

Without saying another word, Reimu heads to her room, then Rika asks "is there anything you need, my lady?"

Sounding aggravated, Reimu replies "take care of that wound of yours."

As Reimu continues her way to her room, Rika sighs and thinks "what about your wounds, my lady?"

From the roof, Aya and Suika stare nervously, then Rika loudly says "could you guys help me here?"

Before anyone answers, a silver washtub falls on Aya's head, knocking her out-cold, then the RKNS comes from the right, chirping madly and grabbing Suika by one of her horns, then takes her away.

Rika sweats as she looks up, then says to herself "I really didn't see that coming."

-

Meanwhile, back at the SDM, Meiling chases some fairies to the clock tower, followed shortly by Koakuma and Sakuya.

She turns around to her pursuers and cries as she says "they mock me, call me names, and you protect them!? *sob* You really hate me, don't you!?"

Sakuya raises her left hand to stop Koakuma from trying anything, then says "don't worry, I intend to finish this."

Meiling stances ready, even though she's still crying and sobbing, and after standing 4 feet away from her, Sakuya says "perhaps THIS will help you see reason."

She pulls out a spell card and calmly says "Sakuya's World."

The world around her completely stops and turns dark, then Sakuya moves as quickly as her exhausted body can to place as many daggers as she possibly can around Meiling.

After she's done, she breathes heavily and thinks "this had better work. I'm exhausted already.", then clicks her stopwatch, letting time flow free again.

For a second, Meiling stops crying, then flip-kicks, back-flips, chops, jump-kicks, then summersaults and spin-kicks when high enough, knocking out all of Sakuya's daggers.

Sakuya turns around with horror and exhaustion in her eyes and exclaims "no! For the love of the gods!"

Meiling kicks Sakuya so hard, she sends the maid flying to the entrance of the mansion, where she falls on some bushes that cushion her fall, however, she falls unconscious due to her exhaustion.

Back at the clock tower, Meiling starts to cry again as she stares at Koakuma, then says "you see? You see what you made me do!? I'm going to have to teach you a lesson!"

Koakuma stutters and sweats, then desperately looks around as Meiling approaches her, then smiles and says "er, I think I'll be running now!"

In an instant, Koakuma is flying for her life, while Meiling chases her down with hatred in her eyes, shouting "come back here, you intruder! Get BACK!"

Back at the mansion's front yard, Sakuya wakes up, moaning and holding her head, saying "ooh, that hurt more than I thought it would."

Sakuya stops moving and talking, then looks around herself with her eyes as they glow red.

She calmly gets up and heads to the door, but the second she opens it, 4 blurs enter through the door, then a 5th one pushes her inside, making her fall on her face.

Sakuya struggles to lift herself up, then realizes she is in the mansion's foyer, surrounded by 4 female vampires and 3 males.

The largest male walks close to Sakuya and in a commanding tone says "where is the so-called queen of the night!? I am here to claim the throne!"

Sakuya says under her breath "Sakuya's... W-world."

She stops time and pushes her body again, releasing an insane amount of silver daggers all around each of the vampires, then stands away from them as she releases time again, and all her daggers hit their mark, each getting stabbed on their wings and hearts.

As they fall to their knees, Sakuya smirks and says "s-*pant* so you thought *pant* you could just barge... in like that?"

Sakuya gasps in horror as 6 of the vampires stand right back up, all laughing as if just hearing a wonderful joke.

One of the females shouts "GLIDE! She killed GLIDE!", as the still body of the dead vampire burst to flames and turns to ashes on the floor.

All the others stop laughing, and after noticing the male vampire turning to ashes, the largest of them all walks to Sakuya with rage in his eyes.

Sakuya is exhausted, she can't run away. All she can do is wait, as the large vampire approaches her, grabs her by her shirt, then lifts her to face him and says "you are going to pay dearly for that, human!"

-

Meanwhile, at the Moriya Shrine, while Kanako and Suwako struggle to maintain order inside the shine, arguing with Koishi and Lily, and trying to keep Ail from flying to the ceiling, outside the shrine, Budou sits on the farthest corner of the porch, hugging her knees as she looks to her feet.

Sanae and Chen sit close by, looking worriedly at her, then Chen asks Sanae "is there anything else we can try?"

Sanae sighs and replies "we've tried talking to her, food and toys... I can't think of..."

Sanae raises her finger and gasps with a smile, then excitedly whispers "there are some strange flowers that bloom during the night. She loves those. I'll go pick some up!"

Chen immediately hops on her feet and says "then let's go!"

Sanae lightly pushes Chen back down and says "please, stay with her this time, in case she wants to tell you anything. These flowers grow very close by, so I'll be alright."

Chen stares back at Sanae with worry, but nods and gets closer to Budou.

Sanae says "I'll be back real quick.", then walks to the shrine's lake.

Using the light from the moon, Sanae quickly finds a bed of dark round flowers with what look like a pair of yellow glowing antenna, on the edge of the lake and whispers "yes! Budou's 'grape flowers'. If these don't cheer her up, nothing will."

On the shrine's porch, Chen pats Budou's back, trying her best to somehow comfort her friend, but Budou continues to stare at her feet while hugging her knees.

Chen opens her mouth, but is suddenly called inside by Suwako, who shouts "Chen, could you PLEASE come here for a second!?"

Chen sighs, then whispers to Budou "I'll be back in a second.", then heads inside the shrine.

The second she leaves, Budou gasps and raises her head, then exclaims "mama!?", and even with her injured wing bothering her, she flies as fast as she can to the shrine's lake.

Very quickly, she finds Sanae lying on her back next to the water, holding on to her favorite 'grape flowers', however her eyes are closed.

Budou's heart races at the sight and immediately dives down to check on Sanae.

She kneels next to the maiden and whispers "mama... mama what is it? Mama, wake up."

From behind, a familiar voice laughs and says "she's not going to help you, little crybaby! After I'm done with you, I'm going to make her pay. Getting away from that blasted cat was a pain!"

Budou turns around in a fright and gasps when she faces the same vampire she and Kyo faced during winter's end.

The vampire smiles and says "surprise, little brat! I am going to enjoy ripping you to shreds!"

The vampire jumps at Budou, but the little youkai remembers some of her training and drops on her back, letting the vampire fly right above her and kicks her straight to the water.

There is a loud splash, then silence.

Budou stands up and stares at the water as the ripples settle and the reflection of the moon becomes as clear as if it were reflecting upon a mirror.

She turns to Sanae and whispers "mama. Mama, wake up!"

She touches Sanae's forehead and feels she is very cold, then tries to lift her head, but feels something wet underneath, and after pulling her hand away, she realizes it's blood.

She starts to cry and says "mama, no! Don't go! Don't leave me too!"

As she says this, she shakes Sanae's body, hoping to wake her up, then is startled when the vampire rises from the water, cackling and shouting to the air.

Budou hopes those screams would reach the others at the shrine, but there is too much noise for them to notice another outside noise.

The vampire smiles and asks "are you surprised, little baby?"

Budou flies next to Sanae's unconscious body and pulls her only spell card.

The vampire pulls out her own spell card and says "Bloody Night Fangs!", then flies straight at Budou and Sanae while her fangs glow red.

Budou bravely shouts "Wave Sign, Shapeless Mind!"

The shapeless green beams take the shape of a giant spiked ball that flies so fast, the vampire can't dodge and is struck hard and sent back into the lake's waters.

Budou reaches for Sanae, desperately wishing to be able to save her before the vampire comes back, however the vampire rises from the water again, this time going straight at Budou and knocking her away from Sanae, then grabs the maiden and lifts her from the ground and opens her mouth, ready to bite down on Sanae's neck.

On that second, the world around Budou turns grey and everything seems to move slow as she thinks "no! She's going away. She's going away too! They have taken everyone away. Papa, Phredia, and now mama! No, I won't allow it! Don't take her away! Give my mama back!"

Suddenly, Budou flies so fast, she creates a beam of light behind herself, sending the vampire against one of the large logs on the lake after tackling her, and after safely catching, and placing Sanae behind her on the ground, she bravely faces the vampire and sounding enraged she says "you keep away from her! You won't take her away!"

The vampire recovers before plunging into the water again, then notices Budou's eyes glowing aquamarine, and with a mocking voice she says "oh my, it seems I hit a nerve or something. That's good, you know. Now, when I take her away from you, It'll hurt DOUBLE!"

Budou bares her little fangs at the vampire and hisses threateningly, and as the vampire arcs her body to lunge straight at Sanae again, a spell card, glowing yellow, appears from Budou's forehead, and without waiting for another moment she shouts "Wave Sign, Ringing Ears!"

Budou claps her hands and cups them around her mouth, and using all her might, she shrieks for as long as and loud as her lungs allow her.

Invisible sound waves reach the vampire, paralyzing her and making her falls straight to the ground right in front of Budou and Sanae, then the sound waves turn to circles of light-blue danmaku orbs that fall like snowflakes on top of the vampire's back.

The vampire screams and lifts to the air again, however, Budou cups her hands around her mouth and shrieks again, paralyzing the vampire once more, then follows the attack with light-blue lasers that come from her fingertips and head straight toward the paralyzed vampire, who tries to scream in pain as the lasers and danmaku orbs all explode on her.

Just as the vampire falls again, Suwako and Kanako appear beside Budou, Kanako asking "who dares attack my Sanae and Budou right in the sanctity of our shrine!"

The vampire gets up from the ground and Suwako immediately grabs her by the neck, then says "what the...? This vampire is wet? How is this possible!? You should be ashes!"

The vampire laughs softly, then progresses to a cackle, then says "beaten by a mere child. And even with my improvements."

Kanako holds Sanae on her arms as she gets up from kneeling on the ground, then asks "what do you mean 'improvements'?"

Again, the vampire laughs, then says "after that wonderful magical shockwave hit this land, we vampires were gifted with amazing powers! We... can touch... WATER!!!"

Kanako and Suwako look at each other, then at Budou, who silently glares at the vampire as she continues "we all went through a stage of madness, but those of us that survived have gained immunity to many ancient weaknesses! Some of us can even walk around in broad daylight! We have become invincible!"

The vampire laughs while Suwako continues to hold her neck, then Budou snarls, and in an instant, she stiffens her left hand, rushes to her, and thrusts it right through the vampire's chest, to both Suwako and Kanako's surprise, and as the vampire turns to ashes, Budou says "so much for invincible."

She turns to face Kanako, who stares back with horror and surprise, and looking seriously at her, she says "gramma, big sis. I can feel them. They are surrounding us!"

Suwako asks "Budou, what happened? You just..."

Budou turns her head and stare at Suwako, her eyes slowly turning back to violet as she says "I won't let them take mama away. She's all I got left! They won't take her from me!"

Kanako and Suwako stare at each other in complete shock, however Budou wakes them up from their trance as she shouts "hurry! Mama's bleeding! She needs help!"

-

Back at the SDM's foyer, the vampires laugh as they use Sakuya like a ball, tossing her around the air toward each other, some of them hitting her so hard when they pass her around, they make a loud thudding sound, then finally, one of the females tosses Sakuya to the air and using his claws, the leader flies to her and sends her down as hard as he can, making her bounce violently against a wall and falling on the carpet on her face.

They all laugh hard as Sakuya's head bounces twice on the ground, then stops.

Their leader raises he hands and declares "this loyal human wasted her life for a master that didn't even show her face! Not even to save this pathetic life! I hereby declare myself the KING of this castle!"

The other 5 vampires clap and cheer, then their leader says "as for this human... She's too loyal to her former master. You make partake on her carcass as you see fit!"

The other vampires cheer, then drool as they turn to face Sakuya. They all start slurping and laughing, then stop.

Their leader awaits to hear them ripping the human's body to shreds as they viciously suck on her blood, and maybe even some painful moans from Sakuya herself, however all he hears are five quick thuds.

He turns around and finds Remilia and Flandre staring back at him with glowing scarlet eyes.

The other vampires quickly get up from the ground, groaning and holding their wings and arms, all regrouping with their leader, then Remilia calmly says "you wanted to challenge me, well here I am."

The tall vampire stands proudly in front and center, then smiles as he cracks his fingers.

In a flash, Remilia is already clawing off his wings and cutting his torso in half.

The other vampires rush to attack her, but one of the females suddenly explodes, turning to ashes in an instant.

Remilia looks back and sees Flandre with her hand clenched, then says "let's show these wimps what power truly is!"

Flandre jumps toward the group, joining Remilia in the air and saying "right behind you, sis!"

Their hands look like blurs as they swing their claws at the invaders, quickly and easily defeating them all, then, while Flandre sits on the back of one of the male vampires, Remilia walks to her challenger, places her hands on his head, then the other vampires, and even Flandre, wince at the sight as the sound for ripping echoes around the mansion.

The body of the tall vampire ignites in blue fire, then turns to ashes, and while Remilia walks to Sakuya, she says as loudly as possible "tell your friends, I am the true queen of the night, and if any of you ever come to my mansion again, I..."

Remilia suddenly stops talking as she kneels next to Sakuya and raises the maid's head.

Her forehead is badly bruised and bits of blood course down her face, and her abdomen seems to be full of her own blood.

Flandre gasps and asks "Sa... Sakuya-san?"

Remilia, who has her back turned on the vampires and her sister, stares blankly at the wall in front of her.

Inside her mind, grey images of a beautiful woman in maid's clothing, covered on blood while on the floor suddenly course through.

The grey images continue, pools of blood everywhere, maids lying dead all throughout an entire corridor.

Flandre crying on the ground at the end of the corridor, blood splattered all around her, and torches and pitch-forks lying on the ground.

Suddenly, the images show Flandre, staring back with a maddened look on her face, then all the previous images cycle back through her mind.

Remilia stands up and gently places Sakuya's limp head back on the ground, then her nails grow twice their size, her eyes glow bright scarlet, and even her fangs seem to grow.

She turns around and reveals a monstrous face, but before the four vampires could react, Remilia is right in front of them all, slashing her claws as two spell cards float in front of her.

She constantly repeats "Spear of the Gungnir. Scarlet Devil. Spear of the Gungnir! Scarlet Devil! SPEAR OF THE GUNGNIR!!! SCARLET DEVIL~!!!"

Her voice echoes far after declaring her last spell card, and she only stops slashing her claws after the very last bit of ash completely disappears from view.

The vampire under Flandre trembles and whimpers, then Flandre gets off him and pulls him up by his wings, then looking quite annoyed and sounding dangerously ominous she says "you should have played nicer...", then tosses the vampire to the air, where Remilia cuts him in half with her claws, then Flandre blasts him from sight.

After all the vampires are destroyed, Remilia rushes to Sakuya and turns her around, revealing a cut on her forehead and a single gash on her abdomen, amongst other wounds and bruises all over her body.

With a cracking voice, Flandre asks "sis? What are we going to do?"

Remilia, holds Sakuya for a moment, then screams to the air.

-

Meanwhile, in one of the deepest corners of the mansion, Meiling has cornered Koakuma.

The little devil panics and tries to fly above Meiling's head, but the gate guard lifts her foot up high and kicks Koakuma back down to the corner.

Whimpering, Koakuma thinks "what should I do? What should I do? She's going to kill me, lady Patchouli! Please, help me!"

Meiling towers in front of Koakuma and says "you'll pay for trespassing and telling the maids to hate me!"

Koakuma suddenly opens her eyes, and a red spell card materializes in front of her eyes, startling Meiling.

She grabs the spell card and shouts "Mind Sign, Pleasurable Mind!"

The entire mansion turns into a large landscape filled with flowers, coursing rivers, rainbows and some trees for shade.

Meiling blinks twice, then rubs her eyes, and instead of just Koakuma, she sees the entire Scarlet Devil Mansion inhabitants, including the fairy maids, all smiling and waving happily toward her.

The gate guard starts to cry, then holds her head with both hands and says "wha-what is this? No... what have I done!? What have I been doing!? Koakuma!? I'm sorry! I'm so sorry~!"

Outside the illusion, Koakuma holds a wooden board and is ready to strike Meiling as hard as she can with it, but then Meiling says "I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me! Of course I know you all love me! And I love you all too!"

Koakuma stops, then sighs, and after throwing the board away, she cancels her spell, allowing Meiling to see her.

The second she does, Meiling lunges to Koakuma and gives her a tight hug, sobbing and apologizing over and over.

Koakuma nervously pats Meiling's back and softly says "it's alright, miss Meiling. You're back to normal now."

Suddenly, from the foyer, Remilia's voice makes the entire mansion vibrate as she screams Sakuya's name.

Still holding Koakuma in her hands, Meiling looks at the little devil and says "that was miss Remilia!", then runs to the entrance while holding Koakuma around her arms.

Patchouli and Marisa are the first to arrive to the foyer, finding Remilia quietly combing Sakuya's hair with her fingers.

Patchouli opens her eyes wide and whispers to Marisa "go hide at the library!"

Marisa gulps and silently nods, then heads back to the library, however when Patchouli goes to approach Remilia, Marisa turns around and hides behind the doorway to the basement, though only Flandre seems to notice her.

From the next floor, Meiling shouts "I'm coming! ...I'm coming!", and the moment she notices Sakuya, she gasps and stares, releasing Koakuma from her arms.

Patchouli slowly approaches Remilia and softly says "Remi... She needs the lunarian doctor."

Remilia looks to Patchouli, but says nothing, so the magician continues "Remi, you need to go, now!"

Flandre shouts "I'll do it! I'll get that doctor here in a flash!"

Remilia shouts "NO!", then gently places Sakuya down and calmly says "I'll go get the doctor. You try your best to clean her up and treat those wounds."

She walks to the door, but stops and turns her head left and says "miss Kirisame, you help too, or I swear I'll have your head!"

She opens the door, and in an instant, she flies away, flapping her wings with force.

Marisa comes out of hiding and slowly approaches Patchouli, who kneels next to Sakuya and begins to treat her wounds with a white piece of cloth she pulls out from her coat.

The doors to the mansion close on their own as everybody else approach the fallen maid.

-

To be continued...

Characters and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Kyo, Luna, Agava, Kimi, Kali and the RKNS were created by Willie G.R.

Budou's "Wave Sign - Shapeless Mind" & "Wave Sign - Ringing Ears"

Mima's "Twilight - Crescent Moonlight" & "Ghostly Sign - Cold-Hearted Dead Mist"

AND, Koakuma's "Mind Sign - Pleasurable Mind"

Spell cards were created by Willie G.R. (any similarities are strictly coincidental)

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

MAR 27 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Geez, all this happens in a single day. Talk about a "hard day's work". Well, now the stage is set for the next incidents to occur, while Marisa bravely faces danger, all to fix all the damage she's caused. Uuu~ this chapter came out quite action-packed, and all by accident too. I wasn't expecting so many battles at once. It's crazy I say XD!!!**

**Anyway, thank you all for reading, and I do hope you are enjoying this Sukima so far. Also... well it's slow progress, but I've managed to edit a few more chapters of Misplaced Sukima. Geez, so many mistakes I failed to see before. Ah well, when I am done editing them, I am sure I'll feel great about it. Take care everyone, and again, thanks for reading.**


	9. Chapter 9

Morning at the Hakurei Shrine.

Rika drags the still unconscious Mima to the hot springs next to the shrine, and places her on the very edge of the spring waters, then swipes the sweat off her own forehead with her forearm and says to herself "phew! I thought spirits were supposed to be light, but miss Mima weighs a ton."

She stares at the evil spirit and with an angry scowl and a happy smile, she says "well, that's enough sleeping for her. It's time to wake up, miss Mima~."

She kneels beside the unconscious spirit, then rolls her to the water, making a big splash after she falls in.

After hitting the bottom, Mima opens her eyes and springs out of the water, spluttering, splashing water everywhere and screaming for help, then stares at Rika, who is kneeling on the edge of the water with a smile on her face and saying "well, good morning, miss Mima."

Mima aggressively approaches Rika's face, and angrily says "what the hell you do that for!?"

Rika scowls and smiles, then flicks Mima's forehead as hard as she can, and with a friendly and sweet tone of voice she says "my, is that any way to thank the one who saved you from getting sealed? I thought you were more honorable than that."

Mima growls, but can't help but blush when Rika rapidly flaps her wings, then looks away and says "tch! Fine, I'm sorry."

Rika's face completely changes to concern, then says "from what I heard, you really care for Marisa. Almost as much as a mother would care for her child."

Mima continues to look away, crossing her arms across her chest and pouting, then Rika continues "now, I know you have the right to be upset about what happened, but... Have you stopped to think how miss Reimu feels about all of this? I mean, unlike what you said last night, miss Reimu doesn't abuse her powers, and for her to have to seal her own dear friend's powers like that must have hurt her a lot."

Realizing what she herself just said, Rika bites her bottom lip and whispers "and that would explain why my lady has been so volatile lately."

Mima turns to face Rika with rage and opens her mouth, but Rika's words sink into Mima's mind, so she stops and thinks, then Rika says "you see? I AM right."

Mima sighs, but raises her hand and points at Rika as if she were scolding a young child and says "but she still left her alone and defenseless! Without her magic, any youkai can come up and kill her!"

Rika raises her voice and says "and don't you think miss Reimu knows?"

Mima opens her eyes wide in surprise, then Rika continues "I bet you anything that's the reason miss Reimu is so upset. The reason she's locking herself up and reading books and scrolls. I mean, if you had no other choice and had to hurt a dear friend... how would you feel?"

Mima flies out of the water and shouts "I rather DIE first!"

Rika calmly gets up and nods, and while slowly flapping her wings and looking back at Mima with sad eyes she says "and you think miss Reimu doesn't feel the same way? One that treats humans and youkai as equals? She has a big heart, and you should know this better than many of us."

Mima opens her mouth wide as she shouts "you're darn RIGHT I know...", then she slowly flies back down next to Rika as she closes her mouth, her angry expression changing to sadness, then says "you... are right. Reimu wouldn't do that unless..."

Rika nods and continues for Mima "unless she didn't have the choice."

Mima pops a pair of legs and lets herself fall on the ground, then stares blankly as the ground between her legs and says "I was so mad at her... for doing what she did. Now I pity her."

Rika sighs, then smiles and says "don't. Miss Reimu is strong. Once she solves this, she'll help miss Marisa, I am sure."

As if ignoring Rika, Mima softly says "man, when I found out, I just wanted to kill her, even with Marisa trying to tell me something back there."

Rika smile widens as she playfully says "and you did leave her on her own as well. I mean, if you REALLY were that worried about her well-being, you should have stayed with her, right?"

Mima twitches, her eyes widen and turn white as her lips turn jagged upon realizing what she did.

Rika bends down and offers a hand to Mima, who turns back to normal and accepts Rika's hand.

Before either says another word, they are disturbed by a shadow that quickly passes by, and when they look up, they spot Patchouli flying straight to the shrine's entrance.

The girls exchange a curious glance, then rush to follow the shrine's visitor.

-

Patchouli walks right inside, and without pause she heads straight to Reimu's room, opening the sliding doors and finding Reimu wearing a white bath robe, her hair lose, sitting on the ground with scrolls and books surrounding her.

Patchouli looks around and calmly says "I see. So that's why Marisa couldn't find them."

Reimu glares and bluntly asks "talk about rude! What do you want?"

Patchouli kneels beside Reimu, then bows down and says "Reimu, we need help. Remilia is too proud to admit it, but without Sakuya, the mansion is a mess, and she's only been disabled for a few hours. Please, send your maid to help."

Reimu rapidly says "whoa, whoa, what are you talking about!?"

Patchouli sighs and says "vampires attacked the mansion last night. They took advantage of Sakuya's fatigue. The only reason she's still alive is because they were planning to drink her blood."

Reimu's face turns pale as she stutters for a moment, then manages to compose herself and says "l-let me gets dressed. I'll go there myself."

She stands up, then loudly says "Rika, please get ready to visit the Scarlet Mansion."

Patchouli gets up, saying "I better let you have your privacy then", and just before closing the sliding doors behind her, she turns her head and says "Marisa is currently there too. I'll understand if you..."

Reimu twitches at the mentioning of her friend's name, and doing her best to hide her anger, she calmly says "Sakuya is a very important friend too. I'm going there."

Patchouli's face stays as emotionless as ever as she silently nods, then closes the door.

From the porch of the shrine, Rika turns to look outside to Mima and says "you hear that? Maria is in the mansion. Make amends with miss Reimu, come with us, and rectify your mistake."

Mima thinks for a moment, while Patchouli approaches the girls and says "she was very worried about you. She thought you got yourself sealed by Reimu, and has been blaming herself since."

Mima gasps, then smiles motherly as she whimpers "she was worried for me *sniffle*, after I left her on her own like that?"

Patchouli calmly nods, then Mima starts to cry and runs to Rika, crying on her shoulders while saying "that sweet little angel~!"

She stops crying in an instant and is suddenly clenching both hands and shouting to the air with a smile "I am SO going there! Marisa, wait for me! Mama-Mima's gonna make it all right again!"

While Mima goes on and on about giving Marisa another lesson in magic to help her, Rika turns to Patchouli, then bows and flips her thumbs up, then Patchouli nods calmly and says "I may have stretched the truth a little."

-

Meanwhile, at the Moriya Shrine's grounds, Budou jumps from tree to tree, her eyes glowing aquamarine as she uses her sonar all over the surrounding area.

She suddenly turns around and gasps, then takes a sudden dive and immediately uses the claws on her hands to slash at some thick bushes a few feet away from the tree itself, revealing a small vampire bat, squeaking for dear life as it flies away as fast as it can.

While it escapes, Budou glares at it and shouts "and if I find another one of you even CLOSE, I'll have your hides for carpets!"

Budou takes a deep breath and sighs, then closes her eyes and flicks a strand of hair away from her face, and when she opens her eyes again they are back to their violet color.

Budou smiles and says to herself "that's the last of them. Now to get some food. I'm starving.", then happily hums while skipping back to the shrine.

Meanwhile, by the waterfall at the edge of the mountain, Momiji stands guard, ever watchful of the surrounding area, scanning around for intruders that will probably never come.

She sighs and says to herself "this is so boring. Why won't my shift end already?"

Her ears suddenly bend down and Momiji narrows her eyes as she angrily says "get... the hell... out of here."

To her left, Ail sits on a rock like a frog and stares curiously at Momiji, who tries her best to ignore him and his constant staring.

Her ears and tail twitch as she tries to keep herself calm, and in an ominous tone of voice she says "I said... get the hell OUT of here. If they see you with me, we're going to get in trouble!"

A pair of crow tengu fly by and Momiji places a hand on her eyes while clenching her teeth and growling, thinking "the damned crows have the worst of timing!"

One of the tengu says "hey, Momiji. Tell your brother he's not supposed to be here. If he wants to play with you, he better wait until AFTER your shift is over... Later!"

Momiji lifts her hand from her eyes and asks herself "brother? Are those stupid birds seeing things again?"

When she looks to her left again, instead of Ail, she sees a male, brown haired version of herself sitting like a dog on the rock and wagging his tail around, then gets shocked at the sight and stutters, then finally manages to say "what's going on here? Who are you!?"

Her brown-haired self suddenly runs off on all fours toward the Moriya Shrine, panting like a happy dog who's just been called by his master.

She drops her sword and shield, then asks "was that..? Am I getting sick?"

Suddenly, a frightened vampire bat flies right through some trees, squeaking loudly as it rapidly flies through.

Momiji sweats and smiles sheepishly as she scratches her cheek with her index finger and says "my, my. I better be more careful what I wish for."

She picks up her sword and shield, then continues her watch, but before completely settling, she looks to the Youkai Forest and notices how dark it is around there, even though it's daytime.

She frowns and places her sword on her shoulder, then says "looks like there's trouble at the forest. I sure hope that kappa are alright."

From behind Momiji, staring ominously toward the forest, is the tiny Rabid Karate Night Sparrow, who flaps its wings and quickly flies away.

-

Back at the Moriya Shrine, Budou finishes the large plate of grapes Suwako and Kanako prepared for her, and with a happy and sweet smile she says "thank you for the food, gramma, big sis!"

Smiling with pale and frightened faces, both Suwako and Kanako nod at her, then look back at each other and Suwako whispers "so you think she's back to normal now?"

Kanako concernedly whispers back "I'm not sure. That's her usual cute little smile... but I can't really tell."

While the goddesses whisper, Budou heads to Sanae's room and gently opens the door.

She looks around and notices Lily and Koishi are still asleep, while Chen is just getting up from her futon and stretching, and then, when she looks at Sanae, her wings rise and stiffen, her entire body twitches, and she looks on with both shock and surprise.

Sanae sits on her bed with a motherly smile and softly says "good morning, Budou."

The little youkai wants to jump straight at her, but instead, she just exclaims "MAMA~! You're alright!", then runs to the side of the bed, contently flapping her wings.

Sanae pats Budou's head and says "I heard most of what happened. I'm sorry to have worried you so much", then lifts the little youkai to sit on her bed with her, where Budou gives her a tight hug.

The goddesses enter the room and walk around Koishi and Lily, so they don't step on them, then Kanako whispers "how are you feeling?"

Sanae nods and says "I'm sorry. That vampire caught me off-guard. I didn't even feel her presence."

Kanako grabs Sanae's hand, then says "it's alright. The important thing is you are safe now. Budou saved you, you know?"

Sanae smiles and says "I could hear a lot of what happened.", then pats Budou's head, making her giggle, then continues "she even got a new spell card. I'm so proud of her!"

Kanako and Suwako's faces turn pale, when Kanako asks "so... you heard... how upset Budou got... and how she..?"

Sanae smiles and says "no. I lost consciousness right after she declared her spell."

Kanako and Suwako sigh with relief, then Suwako thinks "then I guess it's all for the better."

A sad tune starts playing around the room, Budou falls asleep on Sanae's lap, then Sanae tightens her grip around Kanako's hand and softly says "but it's only natural she got so upset. She's gone through so much."

Sanae tightens her grip some more, and Kanako starts to sweat and says "Sa-Sanae, m-my hand..."

Sanae ignores Kanako and continues "first Ail disappears, then she gets this e-mail, then she thinks he's dead, and when he comes back..."

Sanae tightens her grip on Kanako's hand so much, the goddess' hand cracks, her eyes turn white, her lips turn jagged, and she kneels on the ground, trying to scream in pain.

Suwako tries to pull Sanae's hand away from Kanako's, while Sanae tightens her grip even more and continues saying "...he's acting on subconscious. Then after that, she loses such an important friend. Oh Ail, you fool. Why did you do that?"

With her free hand, Sanae gently brushes Budou's hair with her fingers, then raises her other hand, raising both Kanako and Suwako and spinning them in the air while softly saying "I almost forgot how we hurt him. That mirror... I got so angry. That's when this whole mess started."

The sad tune stops playing, Sanae sighs, then releases Kanako, sending both her and Suwako flying out the door, then sounding surprised, Sanae asks "lady Yasaka, lady Moriya!? What on earth are you doing? You're going to wake Lily and Koishi up."

Just outside the room, Kanako looks at her swollen, beating hand and blows on it, while Ail and Chen stare at it, then Suwako says "auu~ We are being punished."

-

At the SDM, the inside of the mansion seems to have shrunk, the floors are littered with broken glass, scattered pieces of paper and small clumps of dust.

The fairy maids all giggle and play around, some even using danmaku inside the small corridors, breaking windows and opening holes on the walls, completely ignoring their duties.

Walking through the corridor to Sakuya's room, Reimu, Rika, Mima and Patchouli look around, and right after Patchouli lets out a sad sigh, Reimu says "wow, you weren't kidding. This place is a mess."

Patchouli sighs loudly again and says "even Koa's been misbehaving... more than usual"

There is a loud clank from far away and a few fairy maids yelp, then Patchouli continues "she's been messing around with that washtub spell all morning. They all refuse to listen."

Rika looks around with a smile, but thinks "what a messy bunch. They need a strict hand."

They arrive to Sakuya's room, where Patchouli says "Remilia, Flandre and the lunarian doctor are inside. Reimu, Rika, you may enter. As for you, evil spirit, I'll take you to my library."

Question marks pop all around Mima's head, then Patchouli quickly says "you are here to look for Marisa, aren't you?"

Mima suddenly gasps with excitement, as if just remembering something very important, but before following after Patchouli she grabs Reimu's shoulders, and with a serious look on her face she says "Reimu... I am sorry for what I said and did last night. I, um, hope you'll forgive me", then releases Reimu and rapidly chases after Patchouli, not giving Reimu the chance to say anything back and leaving her with a surprise look on her face, while Rika simply smiles behind Reimu's back.

After Mima and Patchouli leave, Reimu slowly opens the door to Sakuya's room and enters along with Rika.

Inside the room, Remilia sits next to the bed on an uncomfortable-looking chair with Flandre sleeping on her lap while kneeling on the ground.

Next to Sakuya is Eirin, who wraps the maid's bruised forehead with plenty of bandages, then says "well, she's safe from danger now, but she will need to rest."

Eirin turns around and says "oh, it seems you have some guests."

Remilia looks to the door and spots Reimu.

She gets up from her chair, waking Flandre up, wanting to approach Reimu and tell her everything, however when she sees Rika standing on the door she gets angry and exclaims "what is SHE doing here!? I want her out of here now!"

Rika quickly tries to leave, but Reimu reaches for Rika's arm and pulls her back in, then says "careful what you wish for, Remi. We came to see Sakuya."

Remilia trembles as her rage escalates, but Sakuya suddenly moans and Remilia's attitude completely changes, rushing straight to her maid with great worry, saying "no, no. Sakuya rests. I won't yell again, I promise!"

Reimu approaches the bed as Eirin steps aside, and showing fear and concern in her face, she asks "who did this to her? This is worse than what that Luna girl did. Remilia, what happened!?"

Reimu stares at Sakuya, whose body and head are covered in bandages, making her look like a mummy, except for her hair and most of her face.

She can see some blood seeping through the bandages on her abdomen, her left arm and her disfigured, lumpy forehead, and even with the bandages on, she can see some black bruises all over her head and left arm.

Emanating rage from her aura, Remilia calmly answers "a group of vampires attacked the mansion last night. As exhausted as she was after dealing with that stupid gate guard, she still managed to kill one of them."

Reimu gently passes the back of her hand through Sakuya's right forearm and asks "but how did this happen? Remilia, I know you wouldn't let this happen unless..."

Remilia's eyes hide under shadow as she forces herself not to cry in front of Reimu and is unable to reply, so Flandre replies for her "we were distracted, talking about things that had happened. We didn't notice anything until one-sama's hand started glowing."

Remilia, using her entire will to prevent herself from crying, manages to calmly reply "so many things happened before we entered Gensokyo. I thought we were at peace here, but now I see I was wrong."

Reimu tries to place a hand on Remilia's shoulder, but the vampire pushes her away, shouting "I'm FINE!"

Reimu sighs while Rika and Eirin quietly watch from the doorway.

-

At the mansion's library, Marisa and Koakuma sit beside each other on one of the many desks, reading a few books in silence, but the moment the door to the library opens up, Marisa jumps from her chair and exclaims "crap, she brought Reimu! Koa, I don't want her to see me like..."

Marisa looks to the chair beside her and realizes Koakuma is long-gone, then sweats and sounding disappointed, she says "oy, thanks for the help, ze."

Marisa takes a dive under her desk and places the chair in front of her, hiding herself almost flawlessly except for the small fact of her hat lying on the desk right on top of where she's hiding.

She looks through the chair's back-rest gaps and waits as the footsteps from the door get closer.

She opens her eyes wide and gasps in surprise and whispers "Mima-sama."

She jumps out of hiding and lands right on Mima, knocking her down with a hug and exclaims "Mima-sama, you're alright! Phew! For a moment I thought Reimu had sealed you."

Patchouli smiles and thinks "well, I guess I wasn't stretching the truth after all."

Mima hugs Marisa back with such force, Marisa's eyes, lungs and heart feel as though they are going to pop out of their place at any second, and sounding relieved Mima says "Marisa, I am so glad you're alright."

Marisa flings her arms wildly, hoping Mima will notice and let her go, but it's not after Patchouli enjoys the scene a little longer, then she gets Mima's attention by saying "anyway, I was right after all. Reimu has all your books, and if I am guessing right, she's looking for a way to close that void you recklessly opened up."

Mima finally releases Marisa and asks "void? So you really did go all-out..."

Mima looks to Marisa very seriously, forcefully helps her up, and while still looking very seriously at her former apprentice, she flips her thumb up, smirks and says "now THAT'S my girl! You show the world what you are made of!"

Marisa and Patchouli stare in disbelief at Mima for a moment, then Patchouli continues "well, that magical shockwave you caused, may very well be the reason there are so many incident occurring. Now..."

Patchouli heads to one of the bookshelves and grabs a few books after looking carefully though the lines and lines of books, then casually says "now, before I leave, I'll be sending Flandre over here, and then you can ask for her help."

Marisa scowls, then angrily asks "whoa, whoa, wait! Where are you going?"

Patchouli glances uncaringly toward Marisa and Mima, and casually says "well, I'm keeping my end of the bargain and helping Reimu figure out how exactly to close that void of yours."

Confused, Mima asks "you made a bargain?"

Patchouli nods and calmly says "I'll help her as best as I can with the closing of the void, and in exchange Rika will stay here until Sakuya is well enough to take over her duties again."

Marisa and Mima stare unblinking at Patchouli as the magician lightly smiles and walks toward the exit.

-

At the first floor of the mansion's foyer, Reimu and Patchouli stand next to the open door to the outside, while Rika stands next to Flandre, and Remilia, who reluctantly stands close to Rika, though keeping a narrow eye open to her.

Reimu looks casually at Remilia and says "and remember, if I find out you bullied Rika even once, I'm taking your wings off and using them as ornaments for my shrine walls!"

Remilia's wings stiffen, even though she keeps a straight face, then Reimu slithers next to the vampire and whispers "look, I really need Patchouli's help. I don't think that vampire attack was coincidence, OR the last one."

Remilia relaxes and whispers back "what are you saying?"

Reimu wraps an arm around Remilia's neck, and pulls her away from Rika and Flandre and says "after that magical shockwave, a lot of crazy things have been happening. You tell me even Koakuma got a spell card!"

Remilia stops, realizing what Reimu just said, then Reimu finishes "so please, bear with this for a while. Besides, I am sure you'll realize what a kind person Rika really is."

Reimu lets go of Remilia, who looks away as she says "yeah... I'm sure she's VERY nice..."

Reimu sighs and heads back to the door and just before flying away she says "and Rika, if you start feeling strange or think you are being mistreated, you fly back home and let me handle the rest here."

Rika bows and says "as you wish, my lady. But I am sure my stay here will be a pleasant one."

With those words Reimu smiles, then flies away along with Patchouli.

The doors close on their own and when Rika turns to face Remilia, the vampire is smirking at her with glowing red eyes and showing off one of her fangs, and in an ominous tone of voice she says "well... miss white-blood maid. Let's see how you handle things here.", then flies away to the second floor in a flash, taking Flandre with her, although Rika was able to easily keep up with her.

Remilia places her index finger and thumb on her lips and whistles loudly, summoning all the fairy maids to the foyer.

A messy bunch, giggling and laughing, playing amongst each other, and flying around Rika herself, completely disregarding her presence there as they start shooting danmaku all around, breaking ornaments, portraits and burning walls. Remilia smiles wickedly as she watches Rika, hoping to find despair in the maid's eyes, however surprise hits her hard when Rika summons a silver whistle from inside a tiny box.

Rika blows on the whistle and the loud tweet makes even Flandre cover her ears.

Once all the fairy maids calm down, Rika, in a kind, but firm tone of voice says "attention! Form a decent line!!"

The fairy maids all stand on a small group of three lines, the shortest in front and the tallest behind. Rika stares at them for a moment, then smiles and says "alright, I know life is a fun game, but there are times for playing and times for working. Right now, this mansion, YOUR home, is a complete mess, so it has become work-time until this entire mansion is as clean as it should be, did I make myself clear!?"

All the fairy maids salute Rika and say at the same time "ma'am, yes ma'am!"

Remilia is both surprised and enraged; her plan to make Rika's first day a misery are already failing.

Rika smiles angelically and flaps her wings fast, making her scarf float just beside her back as she cups her hands together and says "you are all such adorable little hard workers! Tell you what. If you do a good job, I'll cook a special meal for ALL of you!"

When Rika takes a good look, all the fairies' noses have blood under them, their faces beet red and a content smile along with all.

Worried, Rika asks "oh my goodness, are you all alright!?"

The fairies contently nod, then Rika smiles again and claps her hands, then says "alright then, let's all get to work!"

On the second floor with bright red faces, Remilia and Flandre stare with awe back down, then Remilia composes herself and says "shit, that was fast! Stupid fairy maids are so useless!"

Flandre totally ignores her sister and walks down the stairs, but before she leaves, Remilia grabs her shoulder and strictly says "don't you DARE get close to that Rika, you hear! She has WHITE BLOOD! She could kill us with a single drop of that, understand!?"

Flandre looks uncaringly back and calmly says "onee-sama... if she wanted to do that, she would have done it already."

Remilia despairs and flaps her wings as she says "that DOESN'T mean we can just lower our guard! KEEP... AWAY... FROM THAT MAID!"

Flandre sighs and sounding annoyed she says "fine! Just let me go already. Marisa is waiting for me!"

Remilia reluctantly lets Flandre go, then says to herself "grr, why did I have to get stuck with that girl!? Dammit, I better warn Meiling about her."

Remilia violently flaps her wings as she rapidly heads to the mansion's gates, hoping to make Rika's stay as unpleasant as possible.

-

Inside the void, next to the gate to the dragon's paradise, the guardian dragon and Ail kneel across from each other in their humanoid shapes, Ail's soul turning lightly pink.

The dragon guardian takes a deep breath, seemingly growling, then says "so you met you friend Kyo when he was defending you from other humans, but you didn't trust him until you, yourself helped him out with some troubles of his own. That is admirable, however you still fail to remember something very important."

Ail lets out a deep sigh, then opens his eyes and asks "my family, correct?"

The dragon's flame rise and stir, and sounding glad the dragon says "yes, that is it. If you can't remember your family, then you might as well go by a new name, or none at all."

Ail takes a deep breath and says "my name... is Anilan Inmodo Leuch. I remember my mother and father, who raised me with love... though I feel this more from my mother."

The dragon immediately says "do not feel ill emotions toward your human father. For humans of the age, things like magic and gods are mere legends and fantasies, but it's not their fault!"

Ail looks at the dragon and asks "why is that?"

The dragon takes a deep breath, again seemingly growling, then says "right now, those humans believe they are free, however they are trapped. They have been fed lies as truth in order to keep control, and all because of money and power. Humans like yourself and your friend, Kyo, are a threat to the world those in power have created, and will use any means necessary to keep you silenced, and that includes taking your lives away."

Ail turns light blue, then looks away as he says "gee, and I left them all in that outside world. Mom, dad and sis. I hope they are alright. I could never forgive myself if something happens to them. Now that I think about it, what sort of madness made me go back out there? Why risk everything, even them? Did... Am I a bad person? Did I do that just to cause tro-"

The dragon's flames rise and as though in rage the dragon loudly says "do not allow those thoughts to fill the empty spaces, Anilan!!!"

Ail turns back to a mere flame, and starts shifting colors again; mostly blue and white.

The dragon calms down and calmly says "understand you are a very special being, and you need to reach a heightened state that only YOU can reach. But in order for you to reach this, you need to undergo certain life trials, and going back to your original home was part of that trial."

Ail's soul turns white, then he calmly says "I see... You know, ever since the day Maribel and Renko knocked Kyo and me inside that gap, the second I touched the land of Gensokyo... I felt a change. Without even thinking about it, I took on a wild youkai, and out of pure luck... I survived."

The dragon bluntly replies "and here I thought you were one to go against fate."

Ail chuckles as he regains the humanoid form, then says "yes... I remember now. I was thinking that I would refuse death, even if that thing took a bite."

The dragon and Ail stare at each other for a short while, then suddenly start to laugh, then the dragon says "you are remembering your first day in your paradise. Good, good. But first I want to know. What made you Ail? What troubles did you help your friend Kyo with?"

Ail raises his humanoid head, but keeps quiet and begins to meditate.

-

That afternoon, at the Human Village, Kimi, Agava and Luna walk by Keine's school for the 5th time, then Luna angrily says "are you SURE she's around here!? We've been walking around here for hours and there's still no sign of that shadow-girl!"

Kimi, sounding slightly annoyed says "she is here. She's just hiding her presence from me, and doing a damned good job at it."

Under her breath and with a mischievous face, Agava says "maybe you just suck", then chuckles.

Kimi plays it cool and ignores her, then suddenly smirks and says "you better be ready, shadow youkai. We are going to need your help here."

Agava sweats and stutters for moment, then nervously smiles while rubbing the back of her head with her hand and says "err, sure, sure. Chief's orders, after all."

Luna sighs and sounding annoyed she says "geez, shouldn't we at least rest? I mean, you made Kyo walk around all night with you. You even left him sleeping on that tree..."

The scene rapidly changes to where Kyo is, snoring loudly as he sleeps on a tree next to Maribel and Renko's house.

The two girls take turns in poking Kyo with a stick, betting meals on who will make him wake up first.

The scene rapidly switches back to the trio, then Luna says "anyway, I'm getting hungry. Why don't we take a small break and eat something?"

Agava drools as she places her hands together and happily nods and says "can we have something sweet!?"

Kimi looks toward some bushes and calmly says "do whatever you want. I'm gonna keep looking."

After saying this, Kimi's stomach grumbles loudly, the sound echoing all over the village.

Blushing in shame, Kimi looks to the other side.

Luna smirks mischievously and says "I'll prepare us some fish. Now come on, I'm NOT bringing the food to you. You come pick it yourself, and don't expect this to happen again soon, got it?"

Kimi clenches her teeth, wanting to take a bite out of Luna, but controls herself and thinks "stupid humans. Why do they have to smell so tasty!? It's thanks to your smell I'm this hungry in the first place!"

Agava slumps as she walks behind Luna and Kimi, and sounding disappointed she says "aww, I wanted something sweet."

Shortly after they reach the house, while Luna prepares the fish in her kitchen, Maribel and Renko enter the house with tears in the faces and shouting incoherently.

Kimi glares at them from the living room's couch as they catch their breath by the entrance, then Renko manages to shout "a small sparrow took Kyo away!"

Agava and Luna silently stare from the kitchen, Kimi from the couch, and Medicine and Su-San from the dining table.

Suddenly, all 4 girls burst to laughter, Medicine pounding on the table and saying "HAHAHA! He loses to a sparrow!? How weak~!", while Su-San silently flies in circles above her head.

Desperate, Maribel says "no, no! It's true, I swear! This tiny brown sparrow came and took him from the tree while he slept!"

Renko adds "and he kept sleeping, even afterwards!"

Again, all 4 girls burst to laughter, Luna laughing even louder, then all stop laughing when a small sparrow enters the house, grabs Su-San with its tiny beak, then grabs Medicine by the back of her shirt with its tiny claws, then effortlessly flies away with the dolls in its grasp.

The 3 remaining girls stay quiet for a while, then Luna casually says "whoa, you were right after all."

Maribel sticks out her tongue as Renko says "see? We told you!"

There is a bloody woman scream from outside the house, then Kimi springs to her feet and angrily says "Kali!", then rushes outside.

-

Outside the house, Kimi looks around for the source of the scream, then there's another bloody scream. From the left, Yuki flies so fast she looks like a large black blur, crying and screaming her lungs out.

Behind her, flying equally fast is Mystia, holding a large pink ribbon that's been made into a large bow and shouting "STOP RUNNING AND TAKE IT LIKE A WOMAN!"

Yuki cries back "I don't wanna play anymore!"

Mystia passes by Kimi, and when they are far away Mystia's voice echoes as she shouts "Vocal Sign, Hooting in the Night!", then starts to sing like an off-tune owl.

Yuki can be heard responding with another spell card, sounding as though she's crying "Fire Sign, Hot Under the Grill~!"

Both girls scream out loud, their screams followed by explosion after explosion, then silence.

Kimi smacks her own forehead with the palm of her right hand and softly growls, then says "nuisance after nuisance!"

From inside the house, holding a plate with a fish cut in many equal pieces, Agava hands the plate to Kimi and while handing her some chop-sticks she says "eat. You'll feel better."

Luna is inexplicably standing right next to Kimi as she calmly says "relax. Things like these happen on a regular basis."

Agava stares at Luna in total shock and surprise, however, Kimi acts as though nothing has happened, and after eating the entire fish in one gulp, she burps and calmly says "Kali's making her move. I have to act quick."

Meanwhile, Keine is hosting for some visitors to her school; a small boy and his parents.

She stands in front of the family close to her desk and says "honestly, I had to apologize to the Kirimuras 50 times for that!"

The kid pouts as he looks away and speaking under his breath he says "all I did was pull the cry-baby's panties."

The mother angrily says "I am going to have to punish you SEVERELY young man!"

The father clears his throat and says "kids your age shouldn't even be interested in such things, but if you're curious about girls..."

The man stands up in a dramatic pose with a red and yellow striped background behind him as he dramatically says "you ask you old man for advice, as I am an EXPERT on women, and can lead you to the RIGHT path to earning a young girl's heart!"

The mother grabs the man by his left ear and pulls hard on it, angrily saying "stop giving him ideas, you fool!"

Keine sweats in embarrassment and stutters, trying to come up with something to say, however, they all stop when the boy starts to sob and hug himself tightly.

The man calmly says "now don't start with that. Come on, you know you did something wrong."

The woman adds "so stop with the innocent act and..."

The child's face fills with more tears as he starts to cough violently, then suddenly starts to fly on his own.

The mother and father despair, calling out to their son, who finally manages to groan "c-cant.... breathe... mom!"

Keine growls and shouts "the shadow youkai again!?"

Before Keine uses her danmaku, Kimi and Agava burst through the doors and Kimi shouts "Agava-girl! She's next to the third desk!"

Agava pulls a spell card and shouts "Shadow Morph!" and immediately takes the shape of a snake that coils itself around the desk's shadow in the blink of an eye.

The child falls hard to the floor, coughing and taking deep breaths, and as soon as the concerned parents grab hold of the child, Keine shouts "GET OUT OF HERE, QUICK!"

Kimi stands aside as the family runs away, then walks closer to the desk where Kali and Agava struggle, and in a threatening voice she says "you are BEGGING to get eaten!"

The two shadows stop struggling, then there's a whip-cracking sound and Kali flies right out of the shadows and straight toward the classroom's blackboard, where she lands flat on her face and slowly slides down to the floor.

-

Meanwhile, at Marisa's house, Reimu and Patchouli enter through the front door and Reimu immediately comments "she's so irresponsible. She left the door unlocked like that."

Patchouli calmly says "this is Marisa we're talking about, Reimu."

The shrine maiden looks away as she clenches her teeth and covers her ears.

She suddenly remembers how Marisa screamed her name, begging her to calm down, moments before she ended up sealing her own friend's magic.

Patchouli places a hand on her shoulder and calmly says "stop blaming yourself so much, Reimu. You either did what you had to do, or you would have both ended up dead, or worse."

Reimu takes a deep breath and after shaking a bit she manages to say "yeah *gulp*. Thanks."

Helping Reimu reach a couch, going through Marisa's collections, Patchouli leaves a black book on Reimu's hands and says "I'll take a look at the basement. You take it easy."

Reimu quickly nods and places the book Patchouli gave to her on her chest while Patchouli heads down the basement to look at the gate Marisa opened.

Immediately after opening the door, Patchouli's mouth opens wide as she gasps and looks around with awe.

The stones on the wall, the symbols, runes and magical circles all working in perfect harmony as they keep the doorway open, however, after looking at the void she realizes there's something wrong and thinks "she must have interfered with some part of the spell... That's right. To save Ail's life. This gate required a sacrifice... and she-"

Patchouli's thoughts are quickly replaced by a sharp and stinging pain the moment her foot touches the ground.

The magic in the room reacts to Patchouli's own magic and begins to absorb her very soul into the void.

The pain is too strong for Patchouli to bear and she loses her consciousness, even though her eyes stay open.

Reimu enters just as the void starts to suck in the air in the room, and without even asking, she grabs Patchouli and pulls her back to the small steps, where the magician's body convulses violently on Reimu's own.

Reimu shouts "Patchouli! What happened!? Patchouli, wake up! DAMMIT!"

She realizes the void is beginning to suck her in as well, so she quickly pulls Patchouli with her and closes the door soon after escaping the basement.

The moment the door closes, Patchouli takes a breath of life and immediately say "I shouldn't have done that!"

Reimu lightly smacks the magician's face, then pulls out her gohei, reciting a healing spell as quickly as she can.

After a few minutes pass and Patchouli fully recovers, she looks to Reimu with worry and urgency, then says "Ail is there, Reimu! He's inside that void. He's with something else there. Something really big!"

Reimu raises her voice and asks "what are you saying? I know he's there! Patchouli, what happened in there?"

Patchouli rubs her head as she sits up and urgently says "Reimu, I'm so sorry, I didn't know!"

Reimu sighs, grabs Patchouli by her shoulders, then shakes her up and asks "what... happened... in... there!?"

After shaking off the dizziness, Patchouli replies "that things used my own magic to accelerate the process. It has consciousness, and it wants to devour everything! Thanks to me, I believe I accelerated the process by a whole week."

Reimu stares into Patchouli's eyes with horror, realizing she isn't lying, and with new sense of urgency, Reimu feels she must close that gate soon, even if it means sealing Ail's consciousness inside the void forever.

-

Nighttime at the Human Village.

In Kyo's house, Kimi holds Kali by her blue vest, and in a dark and dangerous tone of voice she says "you realize that thanks to you, Reimu's credibility in me has decreased. And for what!? So you could go and kill a human? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't chew you up and use your carcass as fertilizer!"

Kali panics and shouts "I'M HUNGRY!!!"

Kimi sweats and asks "you are hungry? What kind of excuse is that!?"

Agava stands on a corner of the house and says "geez, what a whiner."

Kali tries to wriggle out of Kimi's grasps as she says "I am SICK of fruits and vegetables! I can't catch a single fish, I can't catch ONE measly fairy! I am starving!"

Luna suddenly comes from the left and gives Kali a plate with chopped fish on it, then Kali, seemingly confused, asks "wah? Is this for me?"

Luna smiles and nods, then says "you better learn how to fish. Hey, why not use that skill of yours with the shadows to catch the fish?"

Kali gulps the whole fish, including the plate itself, then gasps and opens her red eyes wide and says "why didn't I think of that!?"

Agava smiles as she bluntly answers "cuz you're stupid."

Kali stares daggers back at Agava, but quickly returns her attention to Kimi, who shakes her up and points at her, poking at her chest while threateningly saying "you listen up real good, you worthless speck of dust. You mess up one more time for me and I am going to make sure to make your last moments of life a hellish misery!"

Kali nervously nods, then calms down and focuses her eyes on Kimi's face.

Annoyed, Kimi asks "what the heck are you looking at, you butt-head!?"

Kali smiles, then says "you got a nice set of crow's feet right there, beside your left eye."

Agava runs straight to the second floor while Luna opens the door to the house and shouts "TAKE IT OUTSIDE!!!"

Kimi smirks with evil intent on her face and happily says "with pleasure!", but before she even walks to the door, she notices Kali has slipped out of her vest and is floating fast outside, wearing only her purple sleeveless shirt and black skirt, the skirt lifting to reveal her ghostly tail as she flies away as fast as she can.

Kimi, even in her human form, breathes fire as she shouts "you cretin! I'll rip that tail off and make me a nice COAT!"

From father away, Kali shouts back "bleh~~ You have to catch me in this darkness first, you old hag!"

Kimi shouts "I can see your body heat, idiot!!!"

Kali cries "no~! I forgot about that eye~!"

Long after they leave, Luna and Agava exit the house, then Luna says "well, I'll be looking for Kyo and Medicine now. What are you going to do, miss Agava?"

Agava smirks and says "I think I'll follow you for a bit. I want to make fun of Kyo when I see him!"

Luna and Agava look at each other for a moment.

Agava thinks Luna will try to kill her, but Luna suddenly smiles, then laughs, so she laughs along with her.

Luna wraps her arm around Agava's neck as they walk to the village's exit, heading to the Youkai Forest, then says "you know, I like you, so why don't we get better acquainted?"

Agava tries to pulls herself free from Luna's grasp, but fails and sweats with fear as she says "er... What? Um, look, I don't really swing that way..."

Luna smiles, releases Agava, and punches her on the head, then says "don't be sick, little monster~! I mean that you and I should be friends."

Agava rubs her head, and sounding relieved she says "ooh. Heh, for a moment there I thought..."

Luna smacks her head again, and while smiling, she grabs Agava's arm and pulls her along down the road to the Youkai Forest.

-

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Kyo, Luna, Agava, Kimi, the RKNS and Kali were created by Willie G.R.

Agava's "Shadow Morph"

And Yuki's "Fire Sign, Hot Under the Grill" spell cards were created by Willie G.R. (Any similarities are strictly coincidental)

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

APR 1 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.


	10. Chapter 10

It's early morning, and a red UFO-like vehicle flies out of the SDM and heads straight toward the Youkai Forest.

Driving the round vehicle with no roof is Flandre, smiling contently and humming.

On the passenger seat is Mima, looking around in awe, acting as if this is the first time she's ever flown.

On the back seat, crossing her arms and legs and looking a little bored is Marisa, who yawns and sounding a bit annoyed says "you know, we didn't have to get up so damned early."

Flandre happily replies "I'm sorry, I can't understand lazy~!"

Marisa grumbles and tightens her arms, then Flandre loudly says "don't forget, you need to give that paper to the kappa girl and tell her Flandre sent you."

Marisa replies "I got it already."

Flandre sighs and says "I'm sorry Marisa, but there's no chance I'm leaving Sakuya's alone. When she recovers, I'll get the girls and come and find you."

Marisa relaxes and loosens her arms, then sighs and says "I'm sorry Flan, I didn't mean to get upset like that. I just want to get this over with and get my magic back."

Flandre smiles and giggles, then says "and that's why we're up so early, dummy. Now, let's speed up!"

Mima cheers and shouts "alright! Give it all she's got!"

Marisa panics and says "no, no, WAIT! I forgot my seat-"

Before she can finish, Flandre accelerates the machine and Marisa falls right out the back and straight to the ground.

While falling, she remembers the events from the night before.

-FLASHBACK-

The night before, Marisa and Flandre walk to the room on the basement, accompanied by Mima, who immediately rummages all around Flandre's room the second Flandre opens the door and says "try not to snoop around too much."

Looking slightly annoyed, Flandre turns to Marisa and asks "so you need my help in order to fix a really big mess you made?"

Marisa smiles and nods, then says "since I can't fly, I was wondering if you could lend me your flying machine... Or maybe come with me too! I'm sure you're help will be more than enough."

Flandre rubs her chin, then looks at Marisa, smiles, then walks to her bed and sits on it, crossing her legs and holding to her knee.

Marisa smiles back, unsure about Flandre's reaction, then asks "so... will you help?"

Flandre continues to smile and bluntly says "no."

The left side of Marisa's face twitches for a moment, and sounding a little annoyed she asks "no? Why not?"

Flandre sighs and drops down on her bed, staring at the ceiling and saying "you saw how bad Sakuya got it. I can't leave like this. And before you ask, I can't lend you my saucer. Even with the kappa's help, they'll charge way too many cucumbers if I'm not driving that thing when it crashes... stupid Koishi."

Marisa blinks twice, then hides her eyes with her hat and sounding very disappointed, she says "I see. Well, it can't be helped. I'll have to get used to walking for a little longer."

Flandre sits back up and waves her finger at Marisa, clicking her tongue while doing this.

She leaps off the bed, then says "don't go giving up so easily. Geez, it seems you were hit harder than I thought. Look, since my machine helped the kappa build a few prototypes, I am sure she can lend you one without question."

Flandre turns her head and smiles mischievously as she whispers "of course, those girls are also looking for more test subjects after all."

Marisa curiously asks "what was that?"

Flandre flaps her wings and smiles, turning her face to Marisa and saying "nothing. I was just saying that we'll have to go really early."

While all of this happens, Mima rummages though Flandre's closet, drawers and under her bed, then suddenly finds a small book with a violet cover, then asks "oh, what's this?"

The book suddenly grows teeth and a pair of wings and starts chasing after the screaming spirit all around the room, trying to take a bite off her.

Flandre and Marisa laugh at the sight, then Flandre casually says "well, I'll see if dinner's ready. I'm starving."

Marisa smiles and says "me too, ze. Mima-sama~! Let's go grab a bite."

There is a loud chomp, and sounding very annoyed, Mima says "ha-ha... very funny!", then she floats outside with the book biting down on her butt, going through the wall and successfully getting the book off herself.

-END FLASHBACK-

Marisa screams her lungs out as she rapidly falls straight down to the unforgiving ground, but is saved by Flandre as she loops and flies right underneath Marisa, catching her in the backseat of the UFO.

With a smile on her face, Flandre says "and that's why you always wear a seat-belt."

Shivering, all the color gone from her face, and staring with terrorized eyes, Marisa trembles as she nods, sits back on her seat and buckles up.

Mima looks back and with curiosity in her eyes she asks "whoa, Marisa. What happened to you?"

Marisa looks back to Mima, her face still pale and still shivering violently as she says "a-a-and you-you're sup-p-posed be help me?"

The saucer speeds up again, however, nobody falls from inside this time.

Meanwhile, inside the dark void, Ail is in the shape of a small grey flame as he floats left and right, waiting for the dragon guardian to return.

Just as he sighs out of boredom, the black and white flame enters the void with a loud roar and immediately takes the shape of a humanoid dragon, the calmly says "so they were right. You remembered your life out there, didn't you?"

The little flame slowly flies up and down, signaling a yes, then Ail says "and if it wasn't for Kyo... and mom, I'd probably not be here at all."

The dragon nods and says "little human, perhaps it would be best if you don't dwell in those thoughts too much. No come and tell me, what do you remember?"

The small flame twirls for a moment, then takes the shape of a human child, yet still sounding normal, Ail says "I remember when I was a child, I could see a few creatures living around my house. Fairies and small dragons. I swear I think I even saw an unicorn once... but."

Ail's flame turns dark grey as he says "when I told my father about it, he tells me that's all 'girl's stuff' and that I should be a man and focus on manly things, so being a fool I ignored all that I saw. That is..."

Ail's flame turns to a very light blue, the dragon guardian watching silently, waiting for what Ail has to say next.

Ail's flame turns dark blue as he says "after ignoring those creatures, I started seeing shadows everywhere. Silhouettes of humans and winged demons roaming all over my house. I was surprised... but not scared. At that time I thought that was normal, until my first day of school. I saw one of those shadows roaming about the classroom while some other kids and I were playing with blocks... and when I told my teacher about it, she smacked me and told me never to say lies like that to the other children or another teacher again. That I might scare them all."

Ail's flame starts to turn bright red, and that's when the dragon guardian stops him and says "Ail, please, calm down. I understand you are angry at them for not believing, but hating them will only hurt yourself."

Ail suddenly turns back into a small flame and turns pink once more, then he takes a deep breath and says "so-sorry. P-please, just let me continue... I want to get this over with."

The dragon nods and says "just make sure not to allow these negative emotions to fill you. It might be dangerous for you in this state."

Ail takes another deep breath and nods, then continues "anyway, when I grew older, the shadows and creatures all disappeared until one day, after falling asleep in the classroom... I think I was 10... anyway, I woke up and found myself surrounded by little fairies, all keeping away a large demon-shaped shadow away from me. The vision suddenly disappeared and I found myself face-to-face with the teacher, who kept yelling at me and telling me to stop day-dreaming. After that, thought... I told mom about it."

Ail's flame turns aquamarine, then light yellow and shortly after, dark blue.

The dragons hums, seemingly roaring softly, then Ail continues "she started to whimper and hold her head, then tells me that she doesn't remember. I didn't understand, and when I asked her what was wrong, she just turns back to normal, smiles at me, then tells me dinner is almost ready. After that, I started having many dreams and seeing many more things, but I was too frightened to tell anyone... I isolated myself from the world, and for years the same scene of going to school, suffering hours in there, then going back home repeated itself over and over. That is, until those bullies made me their target... until the day I met Kyo at the age of 13."

A loud roar from the dragon's paradise enters the void, and Ail exclaims "whoa... that sounds urgent!"

The dragon guardian looks to Ail with surprise and asks "you understood that!"

Ail nods, which surprises the dragon even more, but before he can say any more there is another loud roar and the dragon guardian excitedly says "I'm sorry little human, but this is important."

Ail nods and says "I guess I can wait here. Anyway, seems that little whelp is in danger. You should hurry."

The dragon guardian sighs and jokingly says "you know, sometimes I befriend the strangest of people, including you. Anyway, I best rush now. I'll be back as soon as I can."

With those words the dragon turns into a ball of fire that exits through the bright gate at great speed, then large wings can be heard flapping just outside.

Ail takes a humanoid shape again, then sits on the dark ground, crossing his legs while going into meditation.

Above the darkened Youkai forest hovers Flandre's red UFO-like air-craft.

Marisa looks down from the sides and sounding a bit nervous, she says "oy, that forest seems unusually dark, ze."

Mima smiles and says "oh, come on! Where's your sense of adventure."

Marisa glares back to Mima and says "you do know I don't have magic anymore, right?"

Mima looks seriously at Marisa and grabs her by her shoulders, then seriously says "and that's why I am here. I'll make sure you are safe!", and while saying this she takes Marisa off the vehicle and takes her down.

Flandre says out loud "I promise, once Sakuya is safe, I'm getting some friends and come looking for you!"

Marisa sighs and says "thanks, Flan. You be a good little girl now!"

Flandre gets a little angry, but by the time she looks down to Marisa, she and Mima are already inside the darkness that claims the forest.

Flandre sighs, blowing a small puff of air, then says to herself "I'm not a little girl! Bah, whatever. I think I'll take the scenic route back home now."

After saying that, she speeds off on her saucer, flying toward the Garden of the Sun.

Meanwhile, inside the Youkai forest, even though it's daytime, it looks as dark as night, black clouds hovering ominously on top of the dead trees.

It's cold and the atmosphere feels thick, and the few creatures, including fairies, that roam about the forest seem out of energy and joy, all looking sick, depressed, others just sleep away in plain view on the ground, ignoring the dangers if being caught.

Close to the river, Nitori stands to the right of Medicine, a loud snore echoing all around them.

Nitori looks to Medicine and says "we tried alarms, you jumped on him, I poked him with a fork, and we even went as far as to tickle his feet, but..."

Medicine looks annoyed toward the ground and angrily says "this lummox keeps sleeping like a LOG!"

Right in front of their feet Kyo sleeps soundly, snoring so loud his snore echoes all over the forest, while Su-San pushes his shoulder, trying to wake him up.

Medicine smirks wickedly, then says "let's draw on his face."

Nitori giggles and pulls out a black marker from one of her pockets, then says "try this. It's my latest model. It will help you draw faster with its integrated motor."

Medicine's eyes shine brightly as she marvels at the marker, then kneels next to Kyo, but stops upon hearing rapid chirps heading her way.

The RKNS comes swooping down and drops a white card to Medicine's and Nitori's hands, then hangs a scroll on a branch, revealing a large picture of Luna Rivers on a silver bikini, twisting her body as she looks back to the camera with a surprised stare.

The little bird stands on Medicine's shoulder, then gently pecks her ear, then points at the card with its claw.

Medicine reads out loud, sounding unconvincing as she says "oh look, it's a very revealing picture of Luna in a... bikini?"

She looks at the bird with curiosity and whispers "what's a bikini?"

The little bird ruffles its feathers, points at the picture, then goes to Nitori and edges her to read her card.

Nitori stares at the card for a moment, and sounding very realistic, she says "oh, you're right! It's very tight and small. Oh my, I think I can see through it!"

The words "see" and "through" play inside Kyo's consciousness for a moment, then he suddenly opens his eyes and sounding very serious, he raises his fist and says "I SAW HER FIRST! She's MINE I tell you!"

When he looks around, he realizes he's inside a dead-looking forest, but before he gets mad, he spots Luna's picture and Medicine staring at it with pink cheeks.

Kyo quietly walks to the picture and takes it away, rolling it up before inexplicably pocketing it perfectly.

Medicine sighs and sounding disappointed she says "aww. I really liked that picture."

Su-San flies to Kyo's shoulder and points reprehensively at Medicine, then Kyo asks "that's enough of that. Can any of you tell me why are we in this forest? And why is it so damned dark in here?"

The RKNS flies from Nitori's shoulder and pulls a scroll twice its own size from the feathers on his chest, then chirps angrily as he opens it up for them to read.

Kyo approaches the paper and reads "dear Kyo. This is your lovely friend, Reimu Hakurei. This tiny sparrow has agreed on helping me guide you through some mayor incidents that are happening that you promised to help with. Your first mission is to find out what's causing the steady decline in the Youkai Forest. Oh, and don't think of backing out. This sparrow is prepared to beat some sense into you, should you even think of walking away. Your truly wonderful friend, Reimu Hakurei. PS: The bird knows martial arts, so don't get any funny ideas."

Kyo looks bored as he finishes reading the paper, and with that same expression, he looks to Medicine and Nitori, then smiles and says "so who wants to get that lazy maiden off her butt and down here as backup!"

Before anybody answers, the RKNS flutters angrily in front of Kyo's face, flapping its wings threateningly wearing a black bandanna that floats along with its flapping wings.

Kyo raises his fist and says "so, you wanna go at it. Al right then... GET READY!"

Medicine and Nitori stand next to each other, clench their eyes shut for 3 seconds, listening to rapid smacks and quick chirps, and when they open their eyes again, Kyo lies on his knees full of bruises all over his body, then says "so, let's solve this incident as soon as possible. Reimu needs our help after all!"

Smiling mischievously, Medicine looks at Nitori and says "well that didn't take long."

Nitori smiles and nods while Su-San rummages through the kappa's backpack.

Back inside the void, after waiting for an hour, the guardian dragon returns, taking his humanoid dragon shape immediately upon arrival.

Before the dragons speaks, Ail says "heh, it seems that shadow dragon needs to be watched constantly."

The guardian dragon laughs, then says "and it seems that in your empty-minded state you have learned our language... and quite fast I might want to add."

Ail's flame starts changing colors as he chuckles and says "there are a few things I still don't understand, but yeah, I understood most of what was going on out there."

The dragon and Ail look at each other for a while, then the dragon says "you were telling me something before I had to leave. Care to continue?"

Ail takes a humanoid shape and turns light yellow, then says "Kyo. If it wasn't for him, I would probably be dead. Before I met him I constantly thought of death and about being free through it. Anyway, every time someone would try to bully me, he'd come, scare them away, or beat them up, smile, then always tell me 'you ok there, buddy? Remember, if you're ever in trouble, you call me' then walk away as if nothing ever happened. I didn't trust him, thought... and how could I? I felt even my family had turned their backs on me. To me, to my mind, everyone was against me."

The dragon nods and calmly says "I understand all of that, my tiny friend. Before finding this paradise, I constantly found myself in that same position over and over. But please, do continue, Tell me, when exactly did you finally trust your friend?"

Ail turns pale green, then says "well, unknown to us, there was this gang of thugs around the area, and I foolishly entered one of their old territories in a park out of curiosity. They had me surrounded in just moments and were ready to kill me, but Kyo appeared out of nowhere. Suddenly, the gang leader and Kyo started speaking about their past. I kept a calm face, but I was truly frightened now. Kyo and that murderous monster were actually very good friends since childhood, so I thought to myself 'this is it, Ail. This is the end', however I was surprised when Kyo asked them to back off and leave us alone. This... infuriated their leader, so he pulled out a gun, and that's when I snapped."

Ail turns red and says "I hate guns... The sight of one gives me both rage and terror. I ran to Kyo and tackled him just before the weapon was shot, and to both our luck, we fell on the ground, so the bullet hit one of the thugs instead. Their leader was furious and the other thugs closed in on us, however all I wanted to do was take that gun away from that monster, so while Kyo took care of 3 of those thugs on his own, I looked for an opening and tossed a very heavy textbook at that thug, knocking that damned gun away."

Ail turns light-blue, then continues "but while I did that, I didn't notice the one thug behind me had a knife and was ready to stab me with it. Kyo jumped out of nowhere, head-butts the guy, then we take the chance to run away. After that, for months Kyo and I were constantly looking over our shoulders for any sign of that gang... until one day Kyo just disappeared."

The dragon takes a deep breath, seemingly roaring, then says "those 'thugs' you speak of were not truly human. So that truly is a memory, not a fabrication."

Ail gasps and turns bright violet and says "so the horns and wings I saw on them were actually real?"

The dragon nods, then Ail turns a brighter-violet and says "then I guess there are some demons living in the outside world."

The dragon takes another deep breath, seemingly growling, then says "just because there is little faith and belief in magic outside of your Gensokyo, doesn't necessarily mean there aren't spirits out there. There are creatures the feed off the negative feelings of other. Those can live on, even when magic and faith dry out."

Ail gasps, then excitedly says "so that's why that gang of thu-, er I mean, demons, was so strong. They pick on the weak and use that fear and hatred to feed."

The dragon nods, then says "but please, let's continue with your tale."

Ail turns grey, and sounding surprised he says "oh, right. Well, I couldn't just leave things as they were, so I snooped around for a bit and accidentally found the gang's hideout between some isolated buildings, and there was Kyo. They had beaten him up very badly, and were ready to kill him with one of those disgusting guns while he was tied up to a pole. That's when I saw the wings on horns on the gang's leader and quite a few of his followers again. In the end, the only way to save Kyo was to startle them, so I ran into some luck and found a little sound machine with a siren sound and played it for them."

Ail turns violet again, then says "I did my best to mimic a cop speaking through a megaphone, and while they ran away, I managed to reach Kyo and free him, but before we were able to get away, the demon leader started shooting at us... that's when..."

Ail turns light orange, then the dragon, noticing Ail's worry, says "go on. Hardships through life are what shape us into being."

Ail sighs, then says "I died."

There is some more silence in the void for a moment, then Ail says "I remember something hard hitting my head, then everything went black, and then I saw it. My body, lying on the ground while Kyo fought off his old friend. Beams of light coursing thought the skies I started chasing, and when I flew high above, all the way out to space, I found myself in a silver platform, looking down to Earth and seeing more and more beams of light of all colors and sizes, all coursing through the planet, some faster than others, and I swear I even saw a few black ones. And when I looked behind me, that's when I met Komachi, whom at the time I didn't know. She told me it wasn't my time yet, that her boss gave her permission to send me back, and was sorry she couldn't tend to me at the time, then Komachi pushed me back to my body while telling me she was glad I'd be going home soon. I didn't really understand her then. Anyway, I tell you, getting back into my body felt like being fitted into a very tight body glove."

The dragon takes another deep breath, this time humming, instead of growling, then says "I see now. That's why you started to trust Kyo, and your own mother more."

Ail nods and turns indigo, then says "yes. Right after that, I woke up back home, with Kyo and mom standing by my side. They told me that right after the doctors treated me, they had to take me away from them. You see, for those doctors, I was a 'discovery' and a 'marvel'. A 'miracle!' I survived a bullet to the head, and was left without a single scratch on me."

Ail turns violet again and proudly says "my mom and Kyo saved me from those doctors and religious fools. They were planning on using me, they even offered us ridiculous amounts of money... but Kyo and mom knew I wouldn't like that, so they refused all that and took me home, where I fully healed in peace. Ever since that day, I started seeing spirits everywhere again, and this time I really liked it, and was no longer afraid."

The dragon looks to Ail, then says "and so, you became the Ail everyone knows and love."

Ail turns pink once more, and calmly says "yes. That... is when I became 'me', no more fears or doubts. All thanks to my best friend and my mother."

Ail loses his humanoid shape and turns back into a flame, then suddenly grows 4 times in size, and sounding surprised he asks "what just happened?"

The guardian dragon smiles and says "and so you finally recovered yourself. Now we can go into your memories of Gensokyo, however, I want you to first rest, then meditate. The first step has been taken. Your healing is well-underway and making good time."

While the dragon says this, Ail turns light-blue and yawns, then suddenly turns white and drops to the ground, falling asleep as soon as the dragon stops speaking.

At the darkened Youkai Forest, Kyo, Nitori, Medicine and Su-San, walk upstream by the river's shore, then Kyo says "I think this stuff is getting to me. I'm feeling sick and very depressed for some reason."

Nitori sighs and says "yeah, I know. It's hard to resist it for long. Bunt once we find Hina, we can sort this out."

Medicine curiously asks "and who is this Hina person?"

Nitori smiles, though showing sadness in her eyes, then says "she's a really doo friend. A goddess who absorbs misfortunes so that humans can live in peace."

Medicine exclaims in wonderment, then suddenly gasps when they hear a woman's voice from behind a tree up ahead, who says "well, I was wondering when you guys would show up."

Another familiar, softer girl's voice says "for a moment, I thought we would have to handle things by ourselves."

Another voice, this one sounding mischievous, says "heh, we might as well. I mean, the big man got beat by a bird, twice!"

Kyo growls and casually says "Agava, you useless shadow blob, how are you!"

Agava reveals herself form behind a tree in front of the small party and angrily says "watch your mouth, or I'll pound you!"

Kyo presses his face against Agava's and angrily says "I'd love to see you try, little miss wobbles!"

Luna and Momiji reveal themselves from behind the same tree as Agava, then Luna smiles and sounding strict, she says "stop it you two, or I'll be beating the both of you up!"

Momiji adds "Hina won't help, you guys."

Medicine runs to Luna, smiling as she says "yay~! Finally, someone dependable!"

Ignoring both Agava and Medicine's comments, Kyo raises his head to look at Momiji's eyes and asks "what do you know?"

Luna hugs Medicine like a child as she sadly says "you friend, miss Hina, IS the cause of the incident."

Momiji continues "she's expelling insane amounts of curses and misfortunes, and if this keeps up, this could easily cover Gensokyo in days."

Kyo pushes Agava's head as she tries to approach him, swinging her arms around with her hands balled into fists, and while he does, he seriously says "I see. Then we better go and stop her before that happens."

Nitori yelps, then says "wait! Hina's not bad! There's got to be a reason she's doing this, right! Momiji, you know her, right!"

Kyo releases Agava, letting her run straight to a tree, where she crashes and falls on her back on the ground, then says "fine. We'll go and talk to her, THEN beat her up."

Luna smiles and says "sound like a plan."

Medicine adds "ohh, this could be fun."

Momiji nods and says "sounds reasonable enough."

Agava gets up and smiles as she says "sure. Best idea I've ever heard!"

Nitori stares at all of them with distress on her eyes, then runs after them after being left behind, complaining about their plan to beat up Hina.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the river, Marisa and Mima walk slowly around the forest, looking spooked, Marisa feeling a little sick, and Mima looking around with terrorized eyes.

Mima trembles as she says "y-y-you don... thing g-g-ghosts would come out to s-s-spook us... right?"

Marisa stops walking and turns her head, looking quite annoyed, then says in a matter-of-factly tone of voice "Mima-sama... you ARE a ghost."

Mima yelps and rushes to Marisa, then says "don't remind me of that! What is there's a mirror around!"

From Mima's direct left, a girl says "oh, I have one right here, if you want it!"

Mima screams at the top of her lungs, her tears showering like waterfalls as she rushes behind Marisa, then loudly says "get back you evil ghost! I have a magician, and I'm not afraid to use her!"

She looks at Marisa and whispers "go ahead, show her your stuff."

Marisa sweats and feeling depressed, she says "I don't have any magic..."

A cold wind blows in front of the two, then Mima nervously laughs and says "ah, that's right... Um, sorry."

The girls voice sounds excited when she asks "so what are you doing here? Are you here to solve this incident!"

Marisa focuses her eyes in front of herself and asks "is that you, Aya?"

From behind Marisa, Mima angrily says "that wasn't funny, you pillow stuffer!"

Aya shrugs, lifting her hands beside her body as she reveals herself from the fog and says "ayayaya~! And I was just trying to be helpful."

Marisa bluntly asks "what do you want?"

Aya pulls out her little notebook from her pocket and points it at Marisa, then says "two things. One, I want to hear the story as to why you don't have your magic, and two..."

Aya opens her notebook and starts to scribble something with a pen she pulls form the side of her ear, and sounding a little sad she says "I was wondering if you could help me handle little miss curses. She's the cause of all of this after all."

Marisa smiles, then says "first of all, I won't say a word. Second, I can't help. I need to find Nitori and ask her if she can help me out. I mean, even with Mima-sama here, I still need to look out of myself, ze."

Aya smiles widely, then says "that's GREAT then. Nitori should be where Hina is, so that means if you want to find her, you'll have to find Hina... so..."

Mima flies to Aya, gives her a hug, and while rubbing her cheeks against the tengu's she says "of COURSE you can come. The more people we have with us, the less scary this place seems! Isn't that right, Marisa?"

Marisa stares annoyed toward the two youkai, then sounding even more annoyed she says "ugh, whatever. Let's just get this over with so I can get to Nitori, then go to Yuka, THEN go to Eintei and then... Geez, why am I telling you all of this?"

Aya walks besides Marisa, smiling and taking notes of all Marisa says, while Mima continues to float as close as possible to the other girls while looking around in fright.

Watching both parties move on, the RKNS suddenly tweets out loud, alerting both parties, then flies away, heading toward the Moriya Shrine.

At the Moriya Shrine, Sanae quietly sweeps the shrine grounds behind the large red gates, and in the meantime, Budou, Lily, Chen and Koishi fly around Ail, making him pounce like a cat as he tries to catch them.

Ran and Yukari sit on the shrine's porch, drinking tea as they watch the 5 "children" play.

Ail suddenly start to run around on all fours and Ran swears she sees a tail and a pair of cat ears at that moment, but she rubs her eyes, blinks twice, then thinks "I'm just tired. There's no way I saw that."

Yukari's mind links with Ran's and playfully says "never disregard the impossible~."

Ran smiles and thinks "think we should keep an eye on him, then?"

Yukari covers her mouth with her fan, and sounding mysterious, she says "I think we should come visit more often. The tea is simply delicious."

Ran sighs, looking down and sighing in defeat, and with a small smile she says "fine. But if something happens, let's help for a change."

Yukari closes her fan and taps Ran's head with it, then smiles and winks, leaving her right eye closed.

A silver washtub falls on Yukari's head, however Yukari stays still and doesn't say a word.

Worried, Ran asks "Yukari-sama! Are you alright?", however Yukari simply stays as she is, so Ran shrugs and continues drinking her tea as if nothing ever happened.

Meanwhile, Suwako approaches Sanae and asks "hey, Sanae, are you sure you should be sweeping under the sun like this?"

A sad tune that sounds like that out of a music box starts to play, making Suwako feel unsettled as she looks around for the source and ask "Sanae, do you hear that? Where is that coming from?"

Sanae stops sweeping and smiles, then sighs with a saddened look in her eyes and says "you know, last night... I was sitting on the porch with Ail."

Sanae suddenly swings her broom and smacks Suwako's right ankle, making the goddess jump on one foot while holding her other leg in pain, then Sanae uses her broom and locks Suwako's neck against it and her own body, and while chocking the goddess she sighs and continues "he started to stare at my breasts with the outmost of curiosity. At first, I thought of smacking his face... but then I remembered he doesn't mean it... so I explained to him how some women have a chests like mine..."

Back at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu twitches and trembles in rage, then crosses her arms across her chest, clenching her teeth while softly growling.

Back at the Moriya shrine, while Sanae says this, she releases Suwako from the choke-hold, however she grabs the goddess and lifts her above herself, contorting her body like a pretzel, then sighs and says "then you know what he did? He started measuring his own chest with his hands while looking at mine. The poor thing. I thought I should get a book and teach him about it, but miss Koishi came by and told me a more direct approach might work better."

Suwako, out of breath, shouts "Sana-Sanae! You... you're KILLING ME!"

Sanae has Suwako on the ground, placing her foot on the goddess' back and pulling back on her arms as she sighs and continues "I thought of scolding miss Koishi, but maybe she was right. Anyway, it didn't matter, since Budou came out of the house with Chen, then the 4 of them started to play *sigh*."

Sanae holds Suwako against herself and starts squeezing the goddess with all her strength as she says "I shouldn't have called him a lecher. Now I feel so bad about it... oh well."

She finally releases Suwako, the sad tune stops playing, then she picks up her broom and looks to the ground to her left and exclaims "lady Moriya! What happened to you! Oh my goodness, I better get the first aid!"

Suwako lies on her stomach on the ground, her legs and arms bent above her back and tied up with a red string.

She looks to her right and groans in pain, then says "Ka... Kanako? You too?"

Kanako lies on her face, unable to move at all, her legs censored by squiggly blocks, and after moaning a little, she says "she got me with the hedge trimmers."

Back at the Youkai Forest, Kyo's party reach a thick concentration of dark clouds, and in the center of this concentration it looks like more and more dark clouds continue to be born and spread around as quickly as they rise to the sky.

Momiji and Kyo are up front, looking on to the sky, then Momiji, sounding serious, says "it's Hina. We have to go through those clouds, but if we touch even one, who knows what kind of misfortune could fall on us."

Kyo smiles confidently, then says "you leave that to me, my friend."

Momiji stares at Kyo with curiosity, then takes a step back as Kyo pulls out a spell card from his pocket.

From behind, leading the others is Luna, who approaches Momiji and asks "what's he doing?"

Sounding bored and uninterested, Agava says "he's probably just showing off."

Excitedly, Medicine points to Kyo and says "look, look! He's doing something!"

Kyo summons his white energy shield to his left arm, then raises his spell card, allowing it to float in the air in front of him, then he positions himself, ready to throw his shield like a disk and shouts "Gales of the Bouncing Orb!"

Kyo throws his shield, and right after it enters through the clouds, it starts drawing an octagon, creating a parameter.

Inside the octagon, 4 large tornadoes from up as soon as the shield disappears, and start vacuuming the dark clouds and sending them away, creating a large opening for the party to go through.

As soon as the spell stops, Momiji signals the others to move, then they all run after Kyo as he rushes toward the center of the concentration of dark clouds.

After running for just a few seconds, Kyo stops, signaling the others to stop, then summons his red energy sword.

In front of them, Hina stands on the center of a flat stone in the middle of the river, spinning counterclockwise with glowing yellow eyes and an face completely devoid of expression.

Kyo takes a step forward, then Nitori pops out in front of him, stretching out her arms, preventing them from getting closer as she says "no, please! Let me talk to her!"

Luna and Momiji walk next to Kyo, and Luna curiously asks "is there something you haven't told us, little kappa?"

Nitori clenches her teeth and trembles as she looks back at the party with fear in her eyes, then says "the other day there was this awful magical shockwave. I was having a friendly chat with Hina when that thing touched her. She started convulsing and spit out this purple goop, so I tried to use my new invention on her, to suck out all the misfortunes she had absorbed, but that shockwave made it so my machine amplified the power of those curses and misfortunes. She screamed for help, but when I tried turning the machine off, this purple spirit came out of nowhere and pushed me away, then possessed Hina after that. I really tried to help her, but all I tried only made things worse. Please, give me one last chance. Maybe talking to her will help!"

Momiji gets mad, unsheathes her sword and points it at Nitori, threateningly saying "what! And you didn't even tell me! I thought you were my friend!"

Nitori cries "I'm sorry~! I was just so scared. It's all my fault this happened! I just wanted to fix it before it got out of hand!"

Angrily, Momiji shouts "well they got out of hand! You should have told me about it! Regardless of my ranking, I can help! I could have..."

Kyo raises his left hand, signaling Momiji to stop, then calmly says "Nitori, I am giving you the chance to make things right. Go and talk to her, but the moment she attacks, we are going to attack back, understand?"

Nitori looks worriedly back to Kyo, then nods and runs closer to Hina.

Hina stops spinning, then glares straight at Nitori, then smirks.

Nitori winces at the sight and thinks of running away, but the kappa steels herself to stay in place and says "Hina! Don't let that thing use you anymore! Come on, wake up! Let me help you fix this! J-just, let me get my machine and turn it off!"

Hina frowns, making her face look twice as terrifying, then rapidly spins counterclockwise and releases a thick concentration of black and purple clouds straight at the little kappa.

On the other side of the river, Mima, Marisa and Aya find themselves trapped by the dark clouds.

They try going back, but something moves the clouds so they block their path.

Aya turns around again, then says "nowhere else to go but forward now. Don't worry, I'll take care of this."

Marisa hides her face under her hat, then says "s-sure. Go ahead. I'll just watch..."

Mima places a comforting hand on Marisa's shoulder, then says "don't feel bad. Remember that many things happened to you and you are working to fix it. That's the importance of this. So don't give up or-KYAAAAH~!"

Mima turns pale and screams when a spirit floats next to her and Marisa, cutting her pep-talk short and making her hide inside Marisa's hat out of fright.

Marisa sighs, unable to believe Mima, a spirit, is so afraid of other spirits, however her expression changes to alert when she realizes she and Aya are being surrounded by 8 more spirits, all flying in a circle around them.

Marisa panics and sounding frightened she shouts "Aya, if you're planning something, better do it now! I don't think they are here to dance, ze!"

Hurriedly, Aya says "don't worry, I'm ready!"

Aya raises a spell card and shouts "Tornado! Guidepost of the Advent of the Divine Grandson! HOLD ON TIGHT!"

As soon as Aya says that, Marisa jumps behind a large boulder to her right and holds on to her hat.

Aya gets surrounded by a tornado, and the force of the winds she creates makes the dark clouds spin around her for a while, then rise to the sky, opening a path in front of them to go through, however, the spirits notice what is happening and charge to attack.

Marisa makes a run-for-it as soon as Aya's tornado begins to die down, but as soon as she passes by Aya she realizes the tengu won't have time to recover and escape, so she braves the still strong winds and grabs Aya by her sleeve, pulling her out of the tornado and cancelling her spell.

Sounding tired, Aya says "th-thanks. Now what? They're coming from everywhere!"

Marisa stops, realizing she has 5 spirits in front of them, cutting their escape.

While standing still, clenching her teeth and growling softly, she thinks "if only I could fly. Dammit, what did I get myself into! What should I do?"

Aya suddenly recovers, grabs Marisa, then jumps high in the air, being careful not to touch the dark clouds above them, and lands away from the spirits, which explode into a purple curse cloud the moment they come in contact with each other.

Marisa, realizing they are ok, gives Aya a sudden hug out of impulse and says "thanks. Th-that was too close!"

Aya feels a bit awkward, and with a sweat drop on the left of her head she nervously says "ayayaya~, y-yeah, sure. Take it easy there."

As soon as Marisa lets Aya go, Mima peeks her head from under Marisa's hat, then Marisa angrily says "look, I understand you're afraid of spirits, even though you ARE one, but if you're not here to help, let me know so I can stop counting on you."

Mima cries and says "I'm sorry," but she stops from saying more when they hear battle cries coming from the river.

Immediately, Mima leaves Marisa's hat, then leads on. When they look to the river, they find Kyo, Luna and Momiji battling Hina, while Nitori lies on her face on the ground, being protected by Agava and Medicine from various spirits.

From the other side of the river, bits of darkness cover Nitori's clothes as she lies unconscious on the ground, while Agava and Medicine do their best to keep many cursed spirits away from her.

Medicine spits a large cloud of poison at the spirits and manages to paralyze 6 of them at once, however she uses a lot of power doing this.

Agava rushes to the paralyzed spirits and fires shadow danmaku at them, making them explode with ease.

Agava turns to face Medicine and says "take is easy, girl. You are using too much power. You'll tire out."

Medicine pouts and turns her face away, saying "hmph! You're just jealous of my powers."

Agava face palms, but quickly points behind Medicine toward two more spirits, and their battle continues.

Meanwhile, Kyo uses his shield to defend Luna and himself from the many curses Hina is releasing at them, while Momiji tries to approach Nitori's machine, which lies next to the possessed Hina, conveniently hidden under the goddesses skirt.

Luna taps Kyo's shoulder, then whispers "when this wave is over, cover me!"

Kyo nods, kiss Luna's cheek, then says "good luck... Go, NOW!"

Kyo pushes back the last of the curse danmaku shards, then Luna jumps high above Kyo, holding her spell card, and shouts "Momiji, distraction! Disturbance, Multi-Colored Death!"

Momiji looks to Luna and nods, then unleashes amazingly large danmaku waves from her shield at Hina, distracting the curse goddess while Luna waves her arms around so fast she looks like she has 8 arms on her.

While waving her arms she dances and twirls around Hina, releasing countless multi-colored danmaku knives.

The knives fly in groups of 5, homing in on the goddess at the rhythm of time, while Luna herself constantly tries to cut the goddess with her own swords, whoever Hina spins fast and releases thick clouds of misfortune, along with curtain of curse bullets to keep Luna away, at the same time as protecting herself from Momiji's and Kyo's attacks.

From the other side, Marisa, Aya and Mima watch with awe as the battle goes on, then Marisa clenches her right fist, and with determination on her eyes she says "I'm helping them!"

Aya jumps out of hiding and heads toward Momiji, saying "I'll help too!"

Marisa jumps out of hiding and is followed by Mima, who says "I won't let her touch you!"

Hina looks around with this dangerous-looking glowing yellow eyes and realizes she's surrounded.

In a rage, she expels so many curses at once, she pushes the machine into the water, however, being a kappa-made machine, it's impermeable and continues to work.

Kyo notices this, even while defending himself and Luna, then shouts "AYA! MOMIJI! IT'S IN THE WATER!"

Aya uses her fan to blow away the curse clouds and danmaku, while Momiji uses her shield to defend herself, however both are unable to move.

Marisa realizes Hina hasn't seen her yet, so she runs as close as possible to the river, then pulls out a bomb from under her hat, then whispers "miss Mima, can you turn this invisible along with yourself?"

Mima looks curiously at the bomb, then says "I don't think so, but I can carry it while invisible."

Maria smiles and says "please, put this right under her feet."

Marisa flicks two metal rings together, creating a small spark that turns the fuse on, then Mima salutes Marisa as she pick the bomb and turns invisible.

Careful but quick, Mima takes the bomb and places it right in front of Hina's feet, and just before leaving, she reappears with a smile and her tongue out, playfully saying "enjoy~!", then disappears again.

Hina looks confused in front of herself, then double takes at her feet, then kicks the bomb away just before it explodes.

Hina yelps when the bomb explodes so close to her, and realizing this Luna jumps on Kyo's back and shouts "FLASH BOMB!"

Kyo, Aya, Momiji, and Agava cover their eyes in time as Luna takes one of the two pins on her head and throws it with force toward the rock where Hina is standing on.

The moment the pin touches the rock, a bright flash of light illuminates the entire area in a second, then stops.

Marisa and Mima walk around, blinded by the bright flash, while Medicine stumbles on to Agava, who holds her hands and says "you should have closed your eyes."

Kyo, Aya, Momiji and Luna uncover their eyes and find Hina on her knees, looking around herself in confusion, asking "huh? What? What's going on around here!"

She looks toward the collapsed kappa and notices the trace of curse clouds on her clothes, then shouts "Nitori! Who... how did...?"

Kyo suddenly shouts "ABOVE!"

They all look just above Hina, where a large curse cloud with big yellow eyes hovers just above the curse goddess.

It takes a dive back to Hina, then Kyo suddenly shouts "NOW~!"

Kyo tosses his shield as Aya reaches the curse cloud, grabs the shield and spins around the cloud twice, as fast as possible, creating a powerful tornado, and after she flies away, Luna, with her dual blades, and along with Momiji, they jump and cut the spirit into 4 uneven slices.

Meanwhile, Marisa jumps to the water with another bomb in hand, this one lacking a fuse.

She swims with the current and finds Nitori's machine expelling curses under the water, next to the rock Hina is on.

She presses a button on the underside of the bomb and stuffs it into the machine's opening, then tries to swim away, but her skirt gets caught by one of the machine's handles.

She fights with all her might to free herself, and when she realizes she can't escape in time, she covers her face with her forearms.

To her luck, Kyo saw her enter the water and swims after her, freeing her from the machine just in time before the bomb explodes, thus destroying the machine.

As soon as Kyo and Marisa come out of the water and take desperate breaths of air, they notice the sky and the forest rapidly returning to normal, Hina spinning on the flat rock in a clockwise fashion, singing "misfortunes come to me~!"

It's dinnertime by the time Hina finishes absorbing all the misfortunes on the forest, so both parties decide to have a large picnic close to the river to celebrate.

While the tengu drink sake, Medicine and Agava watch them, Agava desperately saying "come on~! I'm old enough!"

Mima flies between the two and says "no way. Sake is not for troublesome little girls."

Agava stomps on her right foot and pouts as she crosses her arms and looks away.

Medicine looks curiously at the drinking girls, then looks at Su-san, shrugs, and says "I don't get it either, Su-San."

On the other side, Hina is making sure Nitori is completely curse-free, looking all over the kappa's body, while Marisa asks "and that's my story. So you think you could help me?"

Nitori pushes her skirt back in place after Hina tries to take a peek underneath and sounding annoyed she says "I told you, I'm alright now!", then looks at the piece of paper Marisa gave her, then looks at Marisa and says "well, I can help you, but... not right now."

Marisa opens her mouth wide, but before she complains Nitori says "first, I'll need to teach you how to use each item I lend you properly, or you might end up hurting others or yourself. Also, maybe I could help you get a little~ bit of your powers back with my new invention, so you and miss Mima can stay at my resort for a while, no charge. What do you think?"

Marisa shivers at the thought of the proposal, but sighs in defeat and says "fine. Just promise me I'll get out of there alive, alright?"

Nitori smiles, then bluntly says "no guarantees of that, sorry."

Marisa's face turns blue, then her body turns white as she sweats and trembles.

Away from the picnic, Kyo and Luna sit side-by-side at the river's shore, holding each other closely, resting their heads together.

Luna sighs, then says "so, we solved this incident thanks to a lot of help from many friends."

Kyo nods, but says nothing, and sounding worried, Luna says "Kyo, I've asked Momiji and Aya to help us train, and I don't want to hear you complaining about it!"

Kyo stays quiet for a moment, then pulls out from his pocket Luna's bikini shot.

Luna stares at it and asks "so... what do you think?"

Kyo smiles and says "simply beautiful."

Luna giggles with glee and jumps on Kyo, hugging his neck and giving him a big kiss.

Aya approaches the couple while a little drunk, then says "whoa... maybe I should get a picture of this too."

Immediately after saying this, Luna hands her a note written in red that says "I know where you perch!"

Aya twitches, smiles nervously, then backs away and says "please... carry on.", then flies away.

Meanwhile, at the Moriya Shrine, the RKNS watches on as Budou, Ail and Koishi enter the shrine, Budou giggling along with Koishi.

The tiny bird places all his attention on Ail, and right after Ail looks back, the little bird flies away toward an unknown destination.

To be continued...

Characters, Spell cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Kyo, Budou, Luna Rivers, Agava and the RKNS were created by Willie G.R.

Kyo's "Gales of the Bouncing Orb" and

Luna's "Disturbance, Multi-Colored Death" spell cards were created by Willie G.R.

APR 5 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

**A/N:**

**Wow, what a long chapter. I really enjoyed the battle here, but I just can't explain exactly why. You know, when someone grabs you and contorts you like a pretzel... it hurts. I TRULLY does hurt! And I want to say this. In all honesty, though I DO feel sorry for the goddesses (Kanako and Suwako), I am enjoying these "quality" times they are going through with Sanae. They are very heart-warming.**

**Also, very glad to hear/read you are enjoying these chapters. As of that "certain valley girl," she'll be getting a few more scenes soon. Maybe next time? Maybe... I'm still deciding what to do with next chapter. Ah well, see you next chapter. On a side-note, please, do pray for those that are undergoing many life trials, including those that are suffering from the many earthquakes that have been happening. Remember, faith and belief can go a very long way, and it would help both the spirits AND this planet too.**


	11. Chapter 11

At the SDM, after taking the scenic route back home, Flandre arrives and lands her aircraft next to the clock tower, where after she gets off, she pushes a small button that is covered by a red compartment and her UFO shrinks enough for her to carry it and fit it back inside the house.

She grabs the vehicle like a toy and casually walks inside the mansion.

She arrives to the door to her room, but skips to the next door, and upon opening the door she immediately enters a large vacant room with two privacy windows that let very little sunlight inside.

She places her UFO on the floor in the center of the room, presses the button to make it grow again, then smirks.

She walks toward it with little glints in her eyes and from behind Rika says "oh my, what a LOVELY aircraft, miss Scarlet!"

Flandre jumps on the spot and after landing she trembles as she turns her head around with a wriggled smile, then says "m-m-m-miss Rika... P-p-p-please don't do that again."

Rika gasps and covers her mouth with her hand, then flaps her wings as she smiles, bows, and says "my apologies, miss Scarlet. Um..."

Flandre shakes of the shock, then stares back at Rika with curiosity and asks "what? Is my sister picking on you?"

Rika waves her hands in front of herself and panicked she says "no, no, that's... Thanks to the fairy maids, I've been able to satisfy lady Scarlet's needs."

Flandre sighs, walks to Rika, places her hand on her shoulder, then says "look, first of all, call me Flandre, or I'm going to break you. Second, my sister is really kind, but she needs to get to know you first. It WILL take time, however."

Rika looks curiously back at Flandre, then bows and says "I understand lady... er, Flandre."

Flandre smiles and contently flaps her wings along with Rika's, then the maid eyes her UFO and says "oh, I haven't seen these in a while! Where did you get it?"

Flandre scratches her left cheek while smiling suspiciously, then says "erm, had to get a lot of money for it. That gap hag did the rest."

Rika's eyes glint and smiles widely as she says "if-if you'll allow me, I can take a look at it to see if it's up to date. W-would you like that?"

Flandre hesitates and says "well... I don't know. The kappa have done a pretty good job... but~... Alright, I guess you could take a look at... it?"

Before Flandre even finishes her sentence, Rika holds between her fingers various screwdrivers and wrenches, and with a wide smile on her face, she approaches the UFO.

She opens a compartment underneath and start to tinker inside, and while she does, worriedly, Flandre says "er, miss Rika, please be careful."

From inside the machine, Rika says "the gears need some greasing, and the polarity cables are almost entwined, so I'll need to untie them while placing the electro-magnetic couplers in the right place, then polarize the shifter for better response of the controls, and finally replace these rusty bolts with the new ones and then..."

Flandre's eyes spin in place, getting dizzy as Rika tries to explain what she is doing, then lets herself fall on her seat on the ground while holding her head.

Rika pulls herself out of the UFO, holding a rusty gear on her hand, and a smile on her face.

Flandre smiles back, unable to resist Rika's smile, then suddenly Rika yelps.

She cuts her finger when placing the cover back on the UFO, and a drop of her blood heads straight at Flandre.

Rika jumps as quickly as possible and grabs the drop of blood, preventing Flandre from even touching it.

Concerned, Flandre asks "what happened? Why did you do that!?"

Rika gets up after landing on her ribs, breathing with a little effort, then manages to look at Flandre and says "I heard what your sister said. My blood is dangerous for you. I'm sorry, I wasn't being careful."

Flandre stares back at Rika as she gets back up on her feet, then smiles and hops on her two feet herself.

She pulls Rika by her shoulder to bend to her, then kisses her cheek and says "I was right. You are a good person. I don't care what onee-sama says. I can trust you. So, will you be my friend?"

Rika stares into Flandre's innocent eyes, and without thinking, she grabs Flandre, and being careful to not let her blood touch the vampire, she gives her a tight hug and says "I will if you become my friend too."

At first, Flandre is surprised, but then she hugs back lightly, and says "already am."

Rika's family sword suddenly turns to its bright and colorful self, and the crystal on the hilt begins to glow.

Rika and Flandre stare at it curiously, and when the shining stops, Flandre and Rika stare at each other, then smile and giggle.

-

Meanwhile, at the Forest of Magic, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai are returning home after trying to visit Marisa, only to find out she's not home.

While walking through the path back home, Alice sighs and says "it's just like in that dream I told you about. Marisa isn't there... And if what I saw is real, then it's very dangerous to be near that house."

Hourai twirls around Alice and says "mama, you are so smart!"

Shanghai hovers above Alice's shoulder and asks "are we going to help her, mama?"

Alice closes her eyes and smiles, then says "first we have to find her, sweetie..."

Suddenly, Alice drops on her face to the ground, making both dolls shout with worry, calling out of their mama.

After only a few second on the ground Alice lifts her head, finding both dolls staring back at her with worry and fright.

She pats their little heads with her hands and whispers "it's alright. It's ok. Nothing happened."

Shanghai almost cries when she asks "what happened, mama Alice!?"

Hourai tries to help Alice up, saying "mama doesn't fall. She sleep on the bed only. You need a pillow too!"

Alice chuckles weakly, then says "it's alright. I just got a little dizzy, that's all."

Shanghai and Hourai each grab on to Alice's arms as she gets up, then Shanghai says "we go straight home. Mama's not feeling well."

Hourai nods while pulling on Alice, who says "c-come on girls, not so fast. I told you, I'm just fine."

At Hakugyokurou's living room, in the Netherworld, Yuyuko picks a cup of tea and takes a quick sip, then Youmu comes from the kitchen with a plate full of cookies and looking curiously, she asks "so you gave up on those two souls you were so obsessed with, Yuyuko-sama?"

Yuyuko aims a sweet look at Youmu and signals her gardener to sit next to the table, which she obediently does.

Yuyuko grabs a cookie and while munching on half of it, she says "I won't need to go there anymore."

Youmu stares with confusion for a moment, then Yuyuko continues "you remember what I told you happened when I broke in, right?"

Youmu silently nods, then notices a wicked glance and smile on her mistress' eyes, then Yuyuko continues "well, while I was lying on top of her, while she was too shocked looking at me with panic in her eyes, I planted a little something right here..."

Yuyuko points to the back of her own neck, then Youmu covers her mouth and gasps in horror.

Yuyuko calmly raises her hand to Youmu, then says "she won't die, Youmu. She will be close to that in a few hours, maybe days though, and when those dolls start running around, looking for help, I'll be graceful enough to come to their aid."

Youmu stares at Yuyuko for a moment, then smiles and thinks "I wonder how long was she planning this one?"

Yuyuko calmly takes another bite of her cookie, then with a smile on her face she says "Youmu, take some tea and cookies and join me. I'm feeling a bit lonely."

Youmu blushes a little, but nods, accepting her mistress' invitation, glancing over her whimsical and seemingly ditzy face while pouring her tea.

-

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu speaks to the tree right in front of the shrine's side-entrance, then says "I don't care how loudly he's snoring! You promised you'd keep an eye on them. Please, don't let me down. I don't want to see them hurt!"

A small bird tweets and chirps, then Reimu says "I'm sorry, I'm just worried about them. A-anyway, I already paid you, so you better keep your end of the deal, got it!?"

The RKNS rapidly flies away, chirping rapidly as he flies toward the Youkai Forest.

Reimu goes back inside the shrine's living room, where Patchouli sits on the floor with a book and some scrolls, all opened on specific pages.

Reimu approaches Patchouli, sits in front of her, then says "sorry about that. Please, continue with what you were saying."

Patchouli nods, then calmly says "after what happened yesterday at Marisa's house, and from what I've read here, in order for Marisa to actually energize that gate and prepare it for opening, she would have had to spend months and months using an equal amount of energy daily, without fail, in order to power up each magical circle, the runes, the symbols, AND each and every one of those stones that make the gate."

Reimu ponders, then asks "so what you are saying is... someone must have helped her. Someone with as much, if not more magic than Marisa herself... But who? Alice was too busy with Yuyuko to help her! Maybe Byakuren."

Patchouli lifts her index finger at Reimu, then points outside.

Reimu smirks and quietly tip-toes next to the exit, jumps right out of the shrine, then pulls out a spell card and shouts "Barrier! Paparazzi-Repelling Barrier!"

Seals and white danmaku orbs shaping flowers fly from Reimu herself, spreading out widely around her, but moving very slowly.

The flowers suddenly move insanely fast, then there's is a click and a scream, then a blur that falls off one of the shrine's trees to the bushes below.

Reimu rapidly walks to the blur and pulls it out of the bushes and tosses her between herself and Patchouli.

he girl has brown hair tied up into pigtails by purple ribbons and wear a purple tokin on her head.

She has brown eyes and wears a white shirt with frilly purple trims on the collar, a thin black tie, a black band around her right arm, and a black and purple checkered skirt with floral patterns on the purple tiles.

Around her waist, she wears a small brown pouch clipped on a black belt and wears a pair of thigh-high black socks she rolls just under her knees, tied up by reddish-purple straps that connect to her red geta sandals.

The girl rubs her head and angrily says "how rude for a shrine maiden you are. You could have, like, asked me to come down. I'm not like that Aya, you know!"

Reimu holds in her hand a cell-phone-looking camera with yellow/dark-yellow checkered patterns, a heart next to the lens, and a brush hanging from it like a charm.

The maiden smirks with malice and says "you have two choices now. Either help me find out who helped Marisa with her stupid experiment... or I'll confiscate this contraption, break it to pieces, then have Patchouli here dispose of what's left!"

The tengu girl cries and shouts "NO~!! Please, I'll help, just DON'T BREAK IT!!"

Reimu reluctantly tosses the camera back at her, then Patchouli kneels down and softly asks "what is your name, miss tengu?"

The tengu inspects her camera, then quickly places it back in the brown pouch and says "Hatate Himekaidou."

Patchouli stares at her with uninterested eyes, then says "can you use that spirit photography of yours to find out who helped Marisa out?"

Hatate stares back at Patchouli with curiosity, thinking "how did she know about that?", but smirks while turning her head to Reimu, then confidently says "of course I can. You'll have to give me some time, though. This thing takes, like, some time to get the story."

Patchouli smiles, while Reimu angrily says "I'll give you 3 days, bird! If you don't come through, I'm plucking every single feather in your body, you got that?"

Hatate nods and gulps, feeling Reimu's threats are not to be taken lightly, and after that she takes off to the sky and flies back to her home.

Patchouli asks "so you think she will help?"

Reimu shrugs and casually says "who cares. At least she's off our backs!"

-

~2 Days Later~

At the Human village, Luna and Kyo entertain some of the villagers while turning their training with Aya and Momiji into an amazing display of danmaku and skillful moves, accompanied by some eager young villagers, male and female, that get caught by stray bullets when getting too close to the action.

At Nitori's Kappa-pa Resort, Marisa trains to regain her magic with Mima's guidance once more, while at the same time, when Mima is out and having fun in the pool, hot tubs, or at the artificial beach, she's practicing with Nitori's lasers, holograms, amplifiers and a few other of her inventions, learning quickly they aren't as easy to use as she thought.

Either way, she is running out of time, and unknown to her, the void in her house is now beginning to vacuum with more force, due to it consciously using Patchouli's magic to accelerate the process.

Inside the void, Ail and the guardian dragon laugh as Ail tells him a little bit more about himself.

Ail glows bright yellow as he laughs and says "... and then, right after that, the teacher came to Kyo and me and asked us who put the glue on her chair. Kyo tells her 'but teach, you are falsely accusing the chair. The glue was on your butt before you sat down.' And I swear, even though I face palmed, I wanted to laugh hard."

The dragon, who is in his humanoid dragon shape, laughs heartily, then says "I see you had a constant battle within yourself with mischief and wisdom."

Ail stops laughing, then sounds a bit serious, his color turning a little dim as he says "and then, one day, one of his pranks went wrong and I found myself tumbling down the stairs when avoiding a firecracker to the face. I was fine, but the headmaster was furious. They were going to have Kyo expelled, so I told them I was the one who brought those things and lighted them up. I even took Kyo's stash and stuffed it in my own backpack."

The dragon smiles and asks "and what happened?"

Ail smiles, then says "I got a month of detention..."

Ail and the dragon stare quietly for a moment, then laugh heartily.

-

That morning, in the Forest of Magic, at Alice's house.

Alice wakes up later than usual, looking dreadfully tired, her hair unkempt, walking in her sleeping robes like a zombie toward the kitchen, where Shanghai and Hourai have prepared breakfast as usual.

When the dolls look at Alice's face, they cover their little mouths and gasp in horror.

Alice's eyes are dark, red and swollen, her mouth slightly open as she lets some drool escape her.

Her skin looks paler than usual, and she looks as though she's covered in bedsores.

Shanghai immediately flies to Alice and exclaims "mama, you look terrible! Quickly! Come, eat!"

Hourai stares from the dinner table and says "she looks undead!", then cries "she's turning into a zombie~!"

Shanghai gets very angry and shouts "Hourai, this is not time for stupidity! Mama is sick!"

Alice manages to sit down on the chair and somberly says "Shanghai, Hourai... good morning."

Shanghai hands a piece of bread to Alice and says "mama eats now! After that, we go to the doctor!"

Alice smiles weakly and says "what? You are such a dear, but I feel fine... I feel fine~..."

Alice collapses, and before she falls on the table, Hourai manages to fly away.

Alice's face lies on her egg breakfast, talking with her eyes closed, saying "I feel just fine, sweetie. I feel fine."

Shanghai despairs and start to fly around, screaming "mama!! We need to get that doctor! We need gramma! Someone get help! Mama is sick! We need the doctor!"

While Shanghai flies around in despair, Hourai stares at Alice's back, then suddenly notices a glow on the back of Alice's neck.

She gasps and points at the glow and says "Shanghai look! Mama's neck is glowing!", but before Shanghai looks, the glow is already gone.

Shanghai scowls and flies next to Hourai, slaps her across the face, then angrily says "Hourai, this is SERIOUS! I don't want to hear another one of your stupid jokes!"

Hourai sobs, letting a tear escape her right eye, then says "I... I'm sorry."

Shanghai ignores Hourai, then flies toward one of the rooms, saying "I'm preparing to go get the doctor. Please watch over mama!"

Hourai quietly nods, then gets closer to Alice's neck.

She narrows her tiny eyes and focuses on the back of Alice's neck, then sees another glow.

From Alice's room, Shanghai hears the front door bursting open and shouts "Hourai~! Who's there!? Is that gramma?"

Hourai doesn't answer and this infuriates Shanghai, who flies out of the room, shouting "Hourai, what are you doing... now?"

As she finishes her sentence, she calms down and notices Hourai is gone.

From the kitchen, Alice moans, getting Shanghai's attention, and when the little doll reaches the kitchen, she finds Alice standing up, rubbing her eyes, her skin color returning to normal, and her eyes looking normal again.

Alice looks like her normal self again, so Shanghai shouts with glee "mama~! You're all better now!"

Alice looks around, and sounding alarmed she asks "where's Hourai!?"

Shanghai shrugs, so Alice narrows her eyes, focusing her sight, then sees a magical trail that links to herself.

Three dolls come flying from Alice's room, carrying a long silky pink robe Alice rushes to put on, then runs to the door and hurriedly says "come on! We need to find her!!"

Shanghai rapidly nods, then flies after Alice as they run straight toward the thickest parts of the forest, where the magical trail leads to.

-

At the SDM, Rika enters Sakuya's room, holding a tray with food and tea, and a roll of replacement bandages, softly saying "miss Sakuya. It's time for your meal."

Inside the room, Remilia has fallen asleep on that uncomfortable-looking chair.

Rika looks at the vampire and smiles tenderly, then thinks of placing a blanket on Remilia, however Sakuya softly moans and moves her left leg.

Rika forgets Remilia and rushes to Sakuya, softly saying "it's ok, it's ok. I'm here. It's alright."

Sakuya calms down, then Rika lifts her upper body just slightly, and holds her up with the help of an extra set of pillows.

Sakuya manages to slightly open her eyes and smiles at Rika, then looks at Remilia and tries to whisper something.

Rika gently pats the top of Sakuya's head and says "you focus on healing. Let me focus on the other stuff. Now come, you have to eat. An important part of healing is a proper meal... now come on."

Rika finally convinces Sakuya to turn her sight to her, then feeds her some soup with a spoon.

After finishing her meal, Rika helps Sakuya drink some iced tea, which has the medicine in it, through a little straw made by Rika herself, which helps Sakuya drink any liquid with minimal, to no effort.

After drinking the tea, Rika softly claps her hands together while smiling angelically, then flaps her wings and says "there, you should be feeling even better now."

She unwraps the bandages around Sakuya's forehead, revealing it almost perfectly healed and says "my, you're a fast healer, aren't you? It also seems my medicine is leaving your skin extra-soft. Aren't you lucky?"

Rika starts wrapping Sakuya with fresh bandages and just before finishing she says "don't worry about a thing. The fairy maids have been very helpful. Thanks to them, miss Scarlet has been taken care of as if it were you taking care of her."

Rika notices a small tear running down Sakuya's eye, then smiles and says "don't you worry about a thing, miss Sakuya. There is no way miss Scarlet will replace you. She's been so worried about you. She's even been coming here almost every day to see that you are recovering."

Rika gently removes the extra set of pillows from Sakuya's back and helps her back down as gently as possible, then smiles and says "you'll see, miss Sakuya. You'll be back on your own two feet before you know it. Just rest and make sure to let my medicine do its work."

Sakuya quietly stares at Rika and raises her left hand just slightly.

Rika grabs her hand and asks "what is it, miss Sakuya?"

Rika's sword, once more, turns to its colorful state, and the diamond on the hilt glows again, and after it stops, Sakuya falls back to sleep.

Rika stares at her sword as it turns back to normal, then gently places Sakuya's hand back on the bed, then prepares to leave.

Before she exits the room, she reaches for a blanket inside the cabinet in front of Sakuya's bed, then gently places it on Remilia.

The vampire wakes up as Rika finishes covering her up, and after seeing Rika so close, she jumps with a loud yelp, and while hanging by her claws from the ceiling she shouts "what the HELL were you trying to do to me!? You were going to KILL me, weren't you!?"

Rika gets scared and answers "n-no, miss Scarlet. I was just placing-"

Remilia drops from the ceiling and threateningly walks toward Rika, making her back away against the walls, then points at her face and angrily says "I don't ever want to see you so close, you understand!? You are NOT trustworthy! Furthermore, the only REASON I haven't clawed your heart out is because of my pledge to Reimu and that cursed blood of yours! However, if you take another wrong step around here and I'll have you--!!"

Remilia's quiet threats progress to shouting, which cause Sakuya to wake up and start moaning and trying to move.

Remilia panics and says "no, I'm sorry. Sakuya rests. Stay, stay! I'm sorry, I won't shout again!"

Rika takes the chance to quickly grab the tray with the empty dishes, the cup and the dirty bandages and rushes out of the room, where she takes desperate breaths, trying to keep herself from crying, then from her right, Flandre places a hand on her shoulder and says "you did nothing wrong. Onee-sama is just stubborn. Now calm down. I'll go talk to her."

Rika nods and manages to calm herself down.

Flandre smiles and giggles, then walks to Sakuya's room. Rika takes a sigh of relief, then says to herself "Rika... you need to be more careful. You were too rough. I need to be more gentle than that."

She nods, filling herself up with determination, then walks back to the kitchen.

-

Back at the Forest of Magic, deep inside the darkest part of the forest, Hourai flies at full speed, trying to get away from the house as fast as possible, staring constantly at the thinning magical trail left behind by the death butterfly she holds on her hands.

She stops for a moment and says "you mean butterfly! Let go of mama already! I told you I won't let you hurt her anymore!"

The butterfly slowly moves its wings, then Hourai yells "you are a mean butterfly! I don't like you!"

Suddenly Hourai notices the magical trail getting thicker again.

She gasps and exclaims "no~! Mama's coming after us! Oh no, oh no! If they find me holding you, they'll be mad! I have to think of something!!"

Hourai looks to her left, then her right, and desperately flies in a circle, stops and snaps her tiny fingers, then exclaims "I got it!"

Farther behind, but still gaining on her, Alice and Shanghai call for Hourai while running through the forest. The robe Alice got on is full of tears and leaf marks, for running recklessly around the forest.

Shanghai stops for a moment, fills herself with as much air as possible, cups her hands on her mouth, then shouts "HOURAI~~! Come back! Mama's better now!"

Alice continues to run ahead and rapidly says "come on, come on! She can't be far behind! This magical trail is getting thicker!"

The forest seems to be getting darker and darker the farther in they get, then Alice suddenly stops.

The magical trail seems to spread all around, zigzagging around various trees.

Shanghai reaches Alice and asks "mama, why did you stop?"

Alice narrows her eyes and stares angrily toward the floating beams of magic and says "she noticed we're following. Dammit all, Hourai! Now is not the time to get smart-ass on me..."

Shanghai stares around, but she's unable to see the magic trail left behind by the death butterfly.

Alice continues to stare with determination, then suddenly gasps and says "THIS WAY!" then turns right and runs as fast as she can, Shanghai following as quickly as possible.

Both Alice and Shanghai feel as if their chests are filled with a lead block that beats hard against their ribcage, their feet and hands turning cold, even though they are exercising, running around and breathing heavily.

Suddenly, Alice and Shanghai both hear a woman's laughter echoing over the sky, then a lightning strike, accompanied by thunder.

Shanghai screams, immediately rushing to Alice's neck, giving Alice a tight hug, then Alice desperately calls for Hourai once more.

Meanwhile, farther ahead on the other side of the forest, Hourai speeds up, trying to get the butterfly as far away from Alice as she can so the magical link can break.

Lightning and thunder strike once more and there is another laugh from the sky.

Hourai starts to cry in fear, but continues to fly, saying to herself "I'm not scared! I'm not scared! Mama! Hourai, you have to save mama!"

Again, another thunder strike, this one accompanied by a loud woman's wicked laughter, and now Hourai slows down, clenching her eyes and crouching while in the air, holding her little head while sobbing and repeating "I-I'm not scared, I'm not scared!"

Hourai opens one eye and notices the magical beam is just about to snap, so she steels herself, and even though her face is full of tears, she shows great determination in her eyes as she continues to fly away, then there's a sudden snap and another lightning and thunder strike.

Alice and Shanghai arrive to a cliff with a collection of caves, where the magical trail ends.

Alice suddenly gasps and grunts as she stomps on the ground, then shouts "DAMMIT ALL! How did she do that!?"

She runs back, following the fake trail, then Shanghai asks "what's wrong, mama!? What about Hourai!? Where's sis!?"

While running and panting, Alice says "she's gotten good with magic! She made a fake trail for us to follow!"

Shanghai starts to cry and says "but she's ok, right mama!?"

Alice gasps for air and shouts "I don't know!"

They see how a bolt of lightning strikes a tree farther inside the forest, then Alice calls for Hourai, which makes Shanghai even more nervous.

As they rush to Hourai's real location, Alice feels as her feet turn to gelatin, while Shanghai constantly thinks of the harsh words she used on her sister just moments before.

At Hakugyokurou's porch, Yuyuko places her empty teacup on its tray, then calls "Youmu, please come here for a second."

Youmu walks from the kitchen and reaches Yuyuko, but before she even bows, Yuyuko says "we'll be receiving two special visitors today. Make sure the shrine is clean for when they arrive."

Youmu stares curiously and asks "you mean the two dolls?"

Yuyuko opens her fan and covers her whimsical smile, then Youmu panics and rushes back inside the shrine, saying "r-right away, Yuyuko-sama!"

Right after Youmu enters the shrine, a blue bolt of lightning strikes the very center of the shrine's living room, making Yuyuko yelp in fright, and Youmu scream in a panic.

-

At the SDM's front gates, Meiling keeps performing her guard duties, even though what she rather do is go visit Sakuya and see how she's doing.

She sighs, then thinks "but with that new chief maid in there, I'm too frightened of leaving my post. My lady Remilia told me she's brutal and mean. Ohh miss Sakuya, I'm so sorry I caused all of this. Please get well soon."

Without realizing it, Rika stands to her left, holding a tray with food for her, however when she realizes Rika is there, she panics and kicks the tray in a fright. Rika yelps, then looks up and rapidly jumps.

Like a rapid blur, Rika grabs the tray, the plate, the food, the cup, the drink, and finally the cover, all without spilling a thing. Rika sighs and says "my, that was so clumsy of me. Please, forgive me, miss Meiling. Here's your meal."

Meiling looks with horror and while trembling, she points at Rika and asks "you? Did you just stop time too!?"

Rika looks back with confusion and whispers "time... stop... me?"

Rika giggles and flaps her wings, startling Meiling to a shocked state, then says "no, I can't really stop time, miss.. Meiling?"

Meiling trembles and says "lady Remilia told me all about you! S-so don't do anything funny, or I'll have your neck!"

Rika's smile suddenly vanish as she sadly sighs and says "oh, I see."

She manages to smile lightly as she says "well rest assured, I'll be on my best behavior, miss Meiling, so you won't have to worry about me."

Meiling calms down and stares at Rika for a moment, then asks "wait, aren't you going to try and take my left eye and add it to your collection?"

Rika stares at Meiling with confusion for a moment, then suddenly starts to laugh.

Meiling stares back even more confused, then Rika manages to stop laughing and says "no, miss Meiling. Regardless of what miss Remilia said, I don't have a collection of, um, left eyes..."

Meiling stares suspiciously at Rika, then Rika simply hands her lunch with a smile, then says "please, enjoy your lunch, miss Meiling. You truly have earned it. You really work so hard."

Meiling suddenly gasps and smiles, feeling appreciated by Rika for her hard work, however the moment is cut short when there is a loud thunder strike and a large blue lightning bolt that illuminates a large area, and hits the Forest of Magic.

Meiling and Rika stare to the forest with surprise, then Meiling asks "what was THAT!? An omen?"

Rika stares to the forest with concern, then hands Meiling her meal and kneels down to pray.

After getting up, she wipes a small tear form her eye and says "may those souls rest in peace."

Meiling quietly stares at Rika, but ignores her and happily reveals her meal of curry and a big cup of juice.

Rika smiles at her, then says "please enjoy.", then walks back inside the mansion, while Meiling devours her lunch.

-

Back at the Forest of Magic, Alice and Shanghai continue to run back to where Alice first lost track of Hourai.

When they get there, Alice notices the magical trail is getting faint, then hurriedly says "this way!"

They go to the opposite direction of where they were going before, Alice saying "dammit, dammit, curse it all! Of all the times for her to get smart on us, she picked the WORSE!"

Shanghai feels an ominous energy surrounding the forest, making her feel even more nervous and preoccupied for Hourai, then asks "mama, is Hourai going to be ok?"

Alice suddenly starts hyperventilating, her nervousness taking over her entire body, not noticing her robe is torn up and almost falling off her.

She manages to calm down, then says "I don't know. There's something in the air. I can't sense her, and the magical trail she left behind is disappearing."

Finally, Alice and Shanghai reach the end of the trail, then look around, both calling for Hourai over and over.

Alice looks in front of herself, then sighs with relief, placing her hand on her chest and calmly saying "there you are, Hourai. Geez, you gave us such a scare..."

Alice approaches Hourai, who got caught by a small branch and is hanging limp while facing the ground.

Alice places her hand on Hourai's head, then the branch snaps and Hourai falls to the ground, making a few clacking sounds as her body bounces once on the ground before coming to a full stop.

Alice's face turns pale, her knees lose their strength, dropping next to the doll, then places a finger on her chest, pushing her lightly and realizing she won't move.

A tear escapes Alice's left eyes and suddenly her entire face is full of tears.

From the left of Hourai, Shanghai kneels beside her sister and starts pushing her, saying "Hourai, wake up. This isn't funny..."

Shanghai starts to cry, shaking Hourai's body while saying "Hourai, enough of your stupid jokes! Wake up!"

Hourai's eyes suddenly roll around, but then stop and set themselves back in place after another soft clack.

Shanghai suddenly starts to sob and cry, then drops on to Hourai's body and cries "my sister. No! After all this time, she left me."

While Shanghai continues to cry on her sister's body, Alice tries her best to sound strong, but when she tries to speak, she feels herself break to pieces and starts to cry as well.

After a while, Alice starts to question how it all happened, looking all around themselves, hoping to find some sort of clue, and that's when she finds the remains of Yuyuko's death butterfly, slowly fading to nothing on the ground.

Alice clenches her teeth, her tears stop, then she furiously look toward Hourai and the crying Shanghai.

She gets closer and holds Shanghai against her shoulder, but before saying anything, she notices tears on Hourai's face, then realizes Shanghai is also expelling real tears.

Furthermore, while holding Shanghai she notices her body is warm.

Alice is very surprised, and even more surprised at herself for not noticing this before, and sounding confused she ask "Sh... Shanghai, are you actually... crying?"

Shanghai sniffles as she pulls her head away from Alice's shoulder, then looks back at Alice with confusion, then suddenly gasps.

Alice continues to hold Shanghai against her shoulder as she picks Hourai's body up, then says "let's go home, get dressed, maybe eat something, and then I want you to tell me, since when you two started to become real."

Shanghai gulps, feeling as though she's been caught red-handed while hiding a terrible secret, then quietly nods as Alice gets up from the ground and starts flying back home.

-

Back at Alice's house, Alice has left her robe and sleeping clothes on the couch, Hourai's body on the table, with her little eyes closed and her arms resting on her chest.

Outside the house, a heavy rain makes it look like there's a curtain blocking the view from Alice's house to the outside.

Meanwhile, Alice takes a bath, thinking of everything that has happened, and when Shanghai flies inside to bring in a fresh set of clothes for Alice, looking like a saddened child, Alice quietly points at her and signals her to get close.

When she's close enough, Alice smiles and says "you can't take a bath with your clothes on."

Shanghai looks surprised at Alice, but after a bit, her clothes drop to the floor next to the bath-tub, and when Shanghai gets inside, Alice says "so your bodies really are becoming real. Why didn't you tell me? Wait, better yet, how is this possible?"

Shanghai looks saddened to the water and shakes her little head as she says "I don't know. We started noticing this right after that magical shockwave hit us. It was the first time Hourai and I felt pain while in these bodies."

Alice rapidly gasps then says "that magic was as powerful as I thought. But to give you two real bodies... And what did you mean by 'while in these bodies'? What's going on?"

Shanghai sighs, then asks "can... we talk about this in the kitchen? I feel a little hungry."

Alice opens her eyes wide, but calms herself, nods, then says "sure. Let ME make break... er, I mean lunch, this time."

Shanghai looks at Alice with a small smile on her face, but quickly frowns and looks back to the water.

At the kitchen, while Alice prepares their lunch, Shanghai holds Hourai's hand against her chest, silent tears escaping her eyes as she watches over the body of her sister, which turned back into its original form, feeling as cold and lifeless as a doll.

Alice places a tray with soup and bread, a large cup of hot tea for herself, and on small cup and bowl for Shanghai, who desperately reaches for the bread and takes a large bite out of an even larger chuck she takes.

Before Alice asks, Shanghai says "we've always remembered. We have always known everything about our past. 600 years ago we were two human girls, twins, living with a very abusive father, and our very sick mother. Our house was poor and in a terrible state... but our... dad... that man, would waste all the money gambling. Mom was always sick and we could only get her just enough medicine to get by."

Alice stops her and with great concern in her eyes she asks "do you remember your names?"

Shanghai shakes her head, then takes a tiny bowl and fills it with soup, then says "sis and I were always together, doing all we could to get money, so we could buy food for mom and ourselves. We were always starving, but we didn't care! We wanted to help mom. Once she got better, we were planning to escape that horrible man... that was our goal."

Shanghai starts to sob, letting tears fall into her soup. Alice is about to ask her to stop, but Shanghai composes herself and continues her story.

She takes a gulp of her soup, then says "mom suddenly got worse, so sis and I decided it was time to go on with our plan... but that terrible man found our hidden stash and used all the money on his gambling. We confronted him about it, my sister and I. He got angry at us and..."

Suddenly Shanghai cries inconsolably, dropping her bowl of soup on herself.

Alice immediately grabs her and embracers her, calming her down and saying "you don't have to tell me anymore. It's alright."

Shanghai cries "he hurt us. We couldn't walk *hic*. We could only watch *sob* how mom died... right in front of us, mama! And then he just burns her body like that!"

Alice pats the tiny girl's head, brushing her hair with her fingers as gently as possible, calming Shanghai as best as she can.

After finally calming down, Shanghai continues "after mother died, sis and I lost our will to go on, that is.. until we realized we still had each other. So one day, when that man left us, we crawled out the door. We were free from him, free to live our lives, but luck was never on our side, and he found us on his way back home. The last thing I remember was that man screaming at us and a lot of crashing and breaking..."

Alice lets a tear escape her eye, then says "Shanghai, please stop."

Shanghai releases herself from Alice and goes back on to the table and looks back at Alice with a brave face.

She takes a sip of her tea, then says "we became wandering spirits, lost and unable to find our way, but we remained together, always. I don't really know how long we wandered the lands until we met princess Yuyuko. I don't know how it happened exactly, but I remember she was surrounded by this beautiful light. She offered us to come with her, and so we did. For years we lived in the Netherworld until the day miss Phredia summoned us."

Alice sighs, then says "I never knew. I'm so sorry."

Shanghai looks at Hourai's body, then says "I've never been without sis... without Hourai. Mama, I feel so lost!"

She looks at Alice with watery eyes, looking to her for answers, for a path.

Alice stares back for a moment, then looks away, hoping for some answers of her own.

She suddenly remembers the vanishing death butterfly where they had found Hourai, and then looks back to Shanghai with a smile and a determined face.

With confidence in her voice, Alice says "tomorrow, we are going to the Netherworld. We are getting Hourai back."

Shanghai looks back at Alice with confusion, then asks "how do you know she's even there, mama?"

Alice smiles at Shanghai, then picks her up once more, and while holding her against her chest she says "call it a mother's intuition."

At first, Shanghai looks confused, however, as she feels Alice's heart beating, she feels reassured, then thinks "even if she didn't really give birth to us, even without any ties to us at all... miss Alice... has truly become our mother."

Shanghai rests her head on Alice's chest and closes her eyes, then says "thank you... for being such a great mother to us... mama Alice."

Alice gets a little surprised after hearing that from Shanghai, but then smiles motherly as she continues to hold the tiny girl.

She looks out the window, realizing the rain has stopped, then smiles once more and says "we'll get Hourai back Shanghai. We'll be together, no matter what."

-

At the Moriya Shrine, Sanae serves some tea and snacks on a tray to the goddesses, and with a smile on her face she says "enjoy. I'm going to the lake to check on Ail and Budou."

Sounding a bit annoyed, Kanako says "you know, ever since that Koishi girl started coming by, we've been getting too many youkai visitors. This is not good for our shrine. What if some humans decide to visit?"

Sanae sweats and giggles nervously, then says "first they would have to pass by the Youkai Forest, so I don't think these children will bother them much."

Kanako's left eye twitches while Suwako stares at her and Sanae with curious eyes, then says "I know we are gods... but aren't we youkai too?"

Kanako spits her drink while Sanae simply stares with curiosity.

Before the two goddesses start to fight, a sad tune like that out of a music box starts to play.

Kanako and Suwako look around, wondering where the sound is coming from, then Suwako asks "Kanako, you hear that, right?"

Kanako nods then asks "Sanae, do you have any idea where that tune is coming... from?"

When the goddesses look at Sanae, they notice as she stares outside with sad, wondering eyes, as Ail and Budou fly by the trees there.

The goddesses turn pale and gasp, then try to run away, however Sanae has shackled their ankles to the floor under the table and suddenly starts talking.

She sighs and swings the tray she holds on her hand, missing Kanako's head by an inch, then says "poor Budou. I know she seems happy, but I know she misses Ail so much. Their house in the forest, they quiet, happy lives."

Sanae kicks the table away, revealing the chains on the goddess' shackles are actually just one, and it's lose, however it holds both goddesses close.

Before they can run for it, Sanae grabs the chain and lifts the goddesses, then starts to swing them around with force, making them crash their heads together over and over, then starts to swing them around in a circle above her head.

While doing this she says "I've been wondering about Ail's consciousness too. I mean, what if we never find it? What if it's already gone out of our reach? I wouldn't know how to explain that to poor, little Budou."

While being swung around and crashing against Suwako and the furniture, Kanako manages to yell "Sanae! It's ok! Everything will be fine! Think positive!!"

Sanae slams the two goddesses on to the floor, making a loud thud that accompanies their "oomph", then sits between their legs and grabs farthest arms, then pulls back on them as if her life depended on it.

While the goddesses scream in pain, Sanae says "I should have asked him about it, instead of trying to beat him to a pulp. I should have confronted him with that mirror. Oh, but I was just so mad. I wouldn't have listened anyway. I don't blame you for that anymore, though. You were just scared of losing me... but you should have just talked to me about it."

Sanae sighs and lets go of the goddesses hands, then suddenly leans over and starts moving her hands in a very rapid fashion, making both Kanako and Suwako scream out in pain, then end with a gurgle.

Sanae gets up, sighs again as she dusts her hands, then the music stops playing.

She looks to the floor and notices both goddesses have been tangled up with one another like a pair of ropes, then gasps and exclaims "again!? Lady Yasaka, lady Moriya, you two have been getting injured quite a lot! I know you're gods, but please be more careful."

The pain in their bodies prevents either goddess from saying a word, so Sanae simply leans over and says "alright, fine, let me help you here."

Just outside the shrine, Koishi makes Lily fly right after Budou, then she and Ail start playing leapfrog, while heading in the same direction as Budou and Lily. Right after jumping away, a golden washtub falls from the sky, but simply hits the ground.

Everything is quiet for a while, then suddenly, something whimpers, and a small teardrop falls to the ground from the washtub's left handle.

-

Meanwhile, at Hakugyokurou, while Youmu is busy with some other spirits, fixing the damage the blue lightning caused to the ghostly shrine, Yuyuko sits on a rock on the garden closest to the shrine, next to a saddened spirit that continues to stare into the small pond in front of them.

Smiling whimsically, Yuyuko places a gentle hand on the spirit and says "don't you worry, little soul. Your sister will be coming by soon. You'll be together again, and be free to play all over the gardens once more."

The little spirit continues to stare at its reflection on the water, then the reflection turns into Hourai, looking on sadly, then says "sis... Mom... I'm all alone now. I'm all alone..."

The reflection reaches out to herself, but it soon vanishes, and turns back into a simple, shapeless white spirit.

-

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Kyo, Luna and Budou were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

APR 7 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**I was SO inspired when writing this. At the same time, though, I felt horrible writing that story back there. I had to liven myself up to finish the chapter, so I added a small moment of laughter there. Though honestly, I winced when proofing and reading through what Sanae does to those goddesses. Still, I'm feeling very inspired, but at the same time, I think I'll take it a bit slower for next chapter. Then again... for some reason, I can't take things too slowly. At least, when I'm writing, I just want to go on and on and... well, you get it. Thanks for reading and I hope you are enjoying this.**


	12. Chapter 12

It's the crack of dawn in Gensokyo, when the sun is just starting to rise.

At Hakugyokurou in the Netherworld, many spirits help Youmu finish the repairs on the shrine's living room, all carrying pieces of lumber, hammers, nails, and some just holding the repair items, waiting to be called if needed.

It seems as though every spirit is helping as best they can, except for one spirit, who regardless of Yuyuko's commands, it stays floating above the small pond in the garden right in front of the shrine itself.

Yuyuko stares at the spirit with frustration, and opens a fan to cover her discontent face.

From the shrine, Youmu says "Yuyu-sama! The repairs are just about finished. You may come in if you wish."

Yuyuko continues to stare at the spirit, and without turning around she says "Youmu, could you come here for a second?"

Youmu stares curiously, but immediately gets her shoes and walks to where Yuyuko is.

She stands next to her mistress and asks "is something wrong?"

Yuyuko closes her fan and points it at the hovering spirit, then says "I've been telling it to help you out, but all it's doing is float there."

Youmu stares at the little spirit for a moment, then her ghost half approaches it, flies around it, then comes back.

Youmu stares at her ghost half and says "it's very sad. It's missing something too dear to it. Yuyuko-sama, I think separating her from the other was a bit too cruel."

Yuyuko sighs, her face turns concerned, then says "this wasn't supposed to happen. The two souls were supposed to come here together, to ask me to save their friend. I wish I knew what happened this time. And what's the whole deal with that blue lightning?"

Youmu stares a Yuyuko with great surprise and asks "wait, I thought that was you. I mean, the little spirit came with it."

Yuyuko smiles whimsically, then lightly taps Youmu's head with the closed up fan, then says "Youmu, you got to use you head, dear. Why would I destroy the roof to my own home in the first place?"

Youmu thinks for a moment, then asks "then why all this? How did all of this happen?"

Before Yuyuko replies, a sad song, sounding like a whale call, echoes all over the entire Netherworld, paralyzing all the spirits for a second, then stops.

Yuyuko and Youmu look around, raising their guard, ready for anything that might attack, then there's a second sad song, again sounding like a whale call.

Yuyuko lowers her guard and sounding amazed she says "Youmu. It's that little spirit."

When Youmu looks to the spirit floating above the pond, it sings a third time, making the water underneath it ripple.

Youmu looks with confusion at Yuyuko, then asks "this is... Yuyuko-sama, what does this all mean?"

Yuyuko raises her open fan to cover her confused and concerned face, and sounding even more confused she says "I don't know. But I've never seen a spirit capable of manifesting sound like this. I think you were right, Youmu."

Again, the little spirit sings, this time the song lasts a little longer, an all Yuyuko and Youmu are able to do is watch as the little spirit continues to sing its song.

-

Meanwhile, at the Youkai Mountain, Hatate smiles as she readies herself to leave to the Hakurei Shrine, boasting to one annoyed wolf tengu who's on guard duty.

She straightens out her tokin and boastfully says "hehe~ That maiden will be so pleased with what my findings! Uu fu fu~!"

The male wolf tengu stares with contempt at Hatate, and sounding annoyed he says "whatever. Just get the hell out of here already. You're not supposed to be here!"

Hatate stops and looks back, then says "how rude! I'm just trying to share a happy occasion here and, like, you just bark at me. You bad dog!", then turns around again.

The wolf tengu fights with his desire to rip Hatate to shreds, so he just goes away, grumbling to himself.

Hatate doesn't realize he is gone, so she continues boasting, putting on a smug face as she says "do you realize how big this is? I could knock Aya's stupid paper right out of the map with this."

She stops and thinks for a moment, then says "wait, with news THIS big, I could knock out every single paper and put my own right on top of the list! I'm, like, so great, it scares me."

She checks that her camera is in her little pouch and straightens her tie, and while she puts on her sandals she says "well, I better get going. Thanks for listening. Oh, and I'm sorry for blabbing so much. I just needed to tell someone else, like, before I tell that shrine maiden that the ones helping her witch friend were-"

From behind, two pair of hands wrap themselves around the tengu, frightening her and holding her from escaping, then pulling her back to the thick bushes.

With wicked smiles on their faces, Kanako and Suwako stare at Hatate, then Suwako, in an ominous and dangerous tone of voice, whispers "so you found us out. That's a nice camera you got there."

Kanako, in an equally ominous tone of voice, whispers "but you forgot one detail, little miss tengu."

Suwako places her face close to Hatate's ear and continues saying "we are gods, and you are messing with us now!"

Kanako snickers, then adds "since it would be too cruel to break your camera, we'll just kidnap you and keep you shut for as long as we need."

Suwako's eyes glow blue as she says "we can't have you tell anything to Reimu now, or she'll probably make us gather faith for HER shrine as punishment... and we don't want that.", then places a hand on Hatate's spine.

Hatate sweats coldly as the two goddess carry her away.

She's unable to call for her, and Suwako did something to her to keep her from moving at all. She's at the mercy of two angry gods, and all she can do is watch as they take her away.

Kanako, sounding a little more normal, smiles and says "you tried to cross us, so don't think we'll give you any special treatment. We'll be sealing you inside one of our smallest cells."

Suwako giggles, then says "maybe, if you behave, we'll let you out sooner."

Hatate is too nervous to know where she is. All she can focus on is the two goddesses with their wicked smiles.

They toss her in what seems like a small box, then close it up as they snicker, then she hears Kanako saying "wow, this made me a little hungry."

Suwako replies "me too. Let's try making breakfast ourselves, for a change."

Kanako chuckles and says "good idea."

Hatate is trapped inside a small wooden box, sealed and hidden underneath one of the stone floors in the Moriya shrine's grounds.

She tries to scream for help, but realizes a charm has been placed on her mouth, so all she can do now is wait until she can escape through some miracle, or is found by someone.

-

At Alice's house in the Forest of Magic, even though it's still a bit dark, Alice and Shanghai are more than ready to set out to the Netherworld to search for Hourai.

Shanghai grabs hold of a small shield and a lance made just for her, while Alice grabs her grimoire and all the spell cards she can pocket.

As they walk to the living room, Shanghai stares at Alice and asks "mama, don't you think we should go ask gramma Shinki for help?"

Alice stops before reaching the door, then looks to Hourai's body on the living room's table.

She turns around and walks to it, picks it up, then turns to Shanghai and says "we are doing this for Hourai. That thought alone should give you and me the strength we may need. Besides, I am your mother, and if I can't take care of you myself I might as well just give up now and forget this whole thing."

Shanghai smiles, then says "thank you for everything... mama."

Alice turns to Shanghai, smiles back at her, then she looks for a small backpack on the living room's cupboard and gently place's Hourai's body in it, and after placing the backpack on her back, she says "I want her to know we missed her a lot, and that we want her back as soon as possible, so I'm taking her body with us."

Shanghai quickly flies to the backpack and opens it to stare at her sister's body, then determination fills her up, and after she closes the backpack again, she flies to Alice's shoulder and sits on it, then she says "let's go, mama! Sis misses me a lot, and I miss her a lot too! I don't want to be apart any longer!"

Alice smiles and starts to walk out the door. Right after closing the door behind them, Shanghai and Alice take flight, heading as high up to the sky as they can.

Suddenly, dark thunder clouds surrounds them and a woman's ominous voice starts to laugh at them.

Alice covers her eyes and grabs Shanghai before she's blown away by the strong winds and cold rain that strikes them hard.

Thunder strikes with a deafening boom, but Alice uses all her strength and shouts back "WE ARE NOT GOIN TO GIVE UP! YOU DON'T SCARE US!"

The voice laughs harder, accompanied by more thunder, and now blue lightning as well.

The bolts fly close by to Alice, startling her and making Shanghai scream.

Alice has enough, so she pulls out a spell card and shouts "Puppeteer Sign, Dolls in Sea~!"

Many dolls surround Alice and start shooting light-blue danmaku shards that scatter everywhere, and the immediate area around Alice and Shanghai turns so bright, it completely blinds them.

When the light suddenly dims, Alice and Shanghai find themselves flying over clear skies.

They looks at each other with great surprise, then smile, Shanghai giggling as Alice calls back her dolls, then they continue their flight to the Netherworld.

-

At the SDM, after having met Rika, Meiling wakes up on her bed, which she hadn't touched for 4 days, feeling well rested and quite relaxed to be inside the mansion.

After going through her normal morning routine, Meiling heads to the gate, but after exiting the mansion, she senses something odd coming from the mansion's garden, so she decides to investigate.

She walks all the way to the back of the mansion, and peeks through the corner, finding Rika practicing great magic spells and trying to keep control of them for as long as she can.

At first, Meiling is afraid of approaching the maid, as her wings seem are now the same size as her, and her eyes look like the sky with beautiful clouds coursing through.

Meiling thinks of going away, but Rika suddenly stops her training and in a friendly tone she says "good morning, miss Meiling. Did you sleep well?"

Meiling freezes in place and trembles as she turns her neck around to meet Rika's eyes, then nervously nods.

Rika notices the fright in Meiling's eyes, so she closes her eyes, returns back to her normal self, her wings short, and her eyes a normal light blue, then smiles and says "sorry to have scared you like that. I was just learning how to use more powerful magic... I feel I'm getting behind in my training lately."

Meiling calms down a bit, then says "w-well, if you want to, um, learn about magic... the library in the basement has many books on that subject. And miss Patchouli should be able to help you a lot."

Rika grabs her book and places it inside a small box that shrinks the book so it may fit, then she approaches Meiling, making the gate guard nervous, bows, then says "thank you so much for the advice, miss Meiling."

Meiling calms down a bit, then nervously says "um, sure thing... miss Rika."

Rika starts walking back to the mansion, but before she goes too far Meiling calls for her.

Rika turns her head to meet Meiling's eyes, then asks "are you alright, miss Meiling?"

Meiling walks closer, then while poking on her index fingers together and looking down, seemingly in shame, Meiling says "I, um... that is, erm. I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. My lady Remilia said you were mean, but I can see you are not mean at all, so... that is..."

Rika smiles widely, then says "it's alright, miss Meiling. No apologies needed."

Meiling raises her slightly shocked face to Rika, noticing Rika smiling at her and saying "but hearing you say that makes me really happy, and I'm glad you're not afraid of me anymore."

Meiling can't help but blush and smile back after Rika starts to flap her wings, then says "um, I don't know how much help I can be, but if you need help training, you can ask me."

Rika bows, her wings bowing along with her, and says "I would be honored."

While she does this, her sword transforms again and the diamond on the hilt begins to glow brightly once more.

After rising, Meiling and Rika look at each other again, then start to giggle.

Meanwhile, from inside the mansion, Remilia watches through the window, rage filling her face as she bares her fangs and trembles with fury, saying to herself "dammit! Stupid gate guard!."

-

Later that morning, Alice and Shanghai finally reach the large gates to the Netherworld, but they seem to be closed.

Alice stares at them, then says "come on, Shanghai. We just need to open those gates and we'll be at the Netherworld."

Shanghai happily exclaims "Hourai~! We're coming to get you!"

Alice and Shanghai approach the large doors and find it's slightly opened, so they grab on to the border and pull with all their might.

The moment he door begins to budge, a girl, sounding annoyed, shouts "hey, what are you doing over there!?"

From the clouds come Lunasa, Merlin and Lyrica, the Prismriver sisters, and immediately after revealing herself, Lunasa releases a few pink petal bullets that go straight to Alice and Shanghai, making them release the door and back away.

Merlin smiles at them while Lunasa and Lyrica stare mischievously, then Lunasa says "if you want to pass through, you'll have to listen to our performance first."

Alice summons 5 dolls that circle around her, then says "sorry, I don't have time to waste on lame performances from a trio of ghosts."

Merlin smiles sheepishly and says "we're not ghosts. We're poltergeists."

Lyrica flies upside-down and asks "hey, you're not even dead. Why do you want to go in there?"

Lunasa mockingly asks "are you here to get back a loved one?"

Alice and Shanghai glare at the trio, their anger rising as their blood boils to their heads, but sounding calm yet demanding, Alice says "that's none of your business. However, if you plan to get in our way, we'll gladly blast you right out of the sky."

The trio smile, and evil aura surrounding the three, and in a happy, yet ominous tone of voice, Lunasa says "tell you what, then. Let's play danmaku, and if you win, we'll let you through, but if WE win..."

Lunasa looks to her sisters, Merlin looking back annoyed and asking "what if we win, sis?"

Before anybody says anything else, Lyrica excitedly says "she'll have to build us a stage in the village and make sure to sell tickets for a live concert!"

Stars shine inside the other two's eyes as they smile and exclaims "EXCELLENT IDEA~!"

Lunasa points to Alice and says "you two will HAVE to build us a stage and—"

Alice waves her hand under her nose, saying "yeah, yeah, I heard. Let's do this already!"

Lunasa frowns as her sisters take their positions behind her, then says "fine, if you're in such a hurry, we'll just have to beat you fast."

Just as she finishes speaking, her violin starts to fly around, releasing extra-large orbs and pink petal bullets in arcs.

Merlin fires tracking lasers and blue petals in wide arcs from her trumpet, and finally, Lyrica unleashes a hellish rain of red and purple petals from all around herself when playing on her keyboard.

Alice and Shanghai watch in fright as the wall of bullets head their way, and without hesitation, Alice grabs another spell card and shouts "Elegant Sign, Spring Kyoto Dolls!"

Shanghai, accompanied by the other 5 dolls, fly all around Alice and unleash an equally, if not thicker concentration of aquamarine shard bullets that cancel the Prismrivers' attacks, then punishes them continually, until Lunasa gets angry and sends her violin straight to Alice's face.

Shanghai shouts "mama, look out!", and pushes Alice away from Lunasa's attack, canceling Alice's spell card.

The sky is clear from bullets now, but the Prismriver sisters seem angry, so all three pull out a spell card, then Lunasa, sounding aggravated, says "so that's how you want to play? Fine, we'll play!"

All three at the same time shouts "Great Funeral Concert! Ghostly Wheel Revised Concerto Grosso"

The Prismrivers play their instruments while in a triangular formation, generating a laser beam each, that connects to each other, then expands farther out, and from the center of their triangle, they unleash yellow and blue shard bullets that change direction and color after touching the lasers, scattering around at random, and getting even more random when the Prismrivers start to spin around in a circle.

Alice manages to avoid being hit by going through small tight gaps between the bullets, but she knows it's a matter of time before she's caught.

Shanghai flies in front of Alice's face and looking concerned she says "mama, let's use that one!"

Alice looks back at the determination in the little girl's eyes, then nods and pulls out a spell card.

Shanghai braves the bullets and lasers, then positions herself in the middle of the trio and extends her little arms.

The trio stares with confusion at the tiny girl, then Alice suddenly shouts "Curse Sign, Shanghai Doll -Dance-!"

Shanghai fires a thick purple beam from each hand and starts to twirl in place, striking all three sisters mercilessly over and over until their spell cancels out, and just before a bullet strikes Alice between the eyes, then all three poltergeists explode in unison.

Shanghai ends her attack and smiles contently as she heads back to Alice.

The three sisters moan in pain, their uniforms lay in tatters and full of burn marks, then suddenly, Lunasa says "oww, my head."

Merlin says "uu, my legs."

Lyrica says "ugh. My pancreas."

Lunasa recovers miraculously and looks to her sister, then says "your... what the hell is that? You're not a human!"

Merlin angrily hisses and adds "quit acting like a human!"

Lyrica angrily snaps "what do you know!? I could have that stuff!"

Lunasa gets closer and angrily says "we are poltergeists, not HUMAN!"

Lyrica turns her head away and says "hmph! You're just jealous because I'm younger!"

A vein pulsates on Lunasa's forehead, then she grabs Lyrica by her shirt, trembling with rage as she stares back into her sister's eyes and asks "what are you implying there?"

Lyrica shrugs and replies in a matter-of-factly tone "face it, you two will become old hags by the time I bloom into a beautiful maiden!"

Now Merlin joins Lunasa, both glaring back at Lyrica with a few veins pulsating on their foreheads, then Merlin says "you're BEGGING for a beating, is that it!?"

Lyrica points at Merlin and shouts "you're the one that said Lunasa and I are full of wrinkles!"

Lunasa now divides her rage, staring at both sisters with large angry white eyes, then shouts "alright, that's it!"

Very suddenly, all three sisters tangle up in a fist-fight and slowly fall down through the clouds, shouting, yelping and screaming insults at each other.

Alice and Shanghai stare at each other in shock, then Alice asks "have you and your sister fought like that before?"

Shanghai blushes, then looks away and says "er, well... not like THAT... but we've had our disagreements."

Alice stares at Shanghai for a little while longer, then shrugs and says "well, let's open this door. Hourai is waiting for us!"

Shanghai turns to face Alice again, and with a happy smile, she nods.

-

Finally, after opening the doors and getting into the Netherworld, the first thing Shanghai notices are the sad waves coming from the top of the stairs.

Shanghai pulls on Alice's capelet, and sounding excited with tears in her eyes, she points up and says "mama, that's sis! We have to hurry, mama! She needs us!"

Alice stares seriously toward the top of the stairs, and holding her grimoire close to her chest she says "don't cry anymore, Hourai. We're coming for you."

Meanwhile, at Hakugyokurou, all the spirits have surrounded Hourai's spirit as she continues her sad song.

Yuyuko stares on with great worry, tears falling uncontrollably from her eyes, then suddenly turns around, and though still crying she sounds normal as she says "they're here. Quite the early birds, aren't they?"

Youmu stumbles form the shrine's porch, forgetting her shoes as she tries to walk straight to Yuyuko, and with a brave face she says "don't worry, Yuyuko-sama, I won't let them get here."

Yuyuko reaches for Youmu's shoulder, but Hourai's spirit sings once more, releasing various sound waves as her song extends each time she sings it, causing all spirits to freeze in place, Yuyuko cry without stop, and Youmu to lose her fighting spirit.

Yuyuko manages to control herself, then says "Youmu, you can't fight like this. Please head back to the shrine."

Youmu clenches her eyes and shakes her head while holding her forehead with her left hand, she says "it is my duty to protect Yuyuko-sama. If I can't perform my duties, then what good am I for?"

She forces a brave look to the crying princess, then Yuyuko slowly nods, then says "do not overexert yourself, Youmu."

Youmu forces a smile, then rushes away like a flash, though still forgetting her shoes, and while running towards her battle, she relaxes her eyes, revealing sadness and exhaustion in them.

Yuyuko stares toward the long stairs and thinks "I never thought my plan would take a turn like this. Maybe I should have left them alone."

She looks to her shrine, and even though she cries, she shows determination in her eyes as she says "no! It is my duty as princess of the Netherworld. All I have to do is reunite those two, and everything will fall in place."

Meanwhile, halfway up the stairs, Alice starts feeling a little uneasy, but she steels herself, thinking about Hourai and Shanghai, their past, her promise to Shanghai, and her own desire to have Hourai back with her and Shanghai.

She remembers when she thought Phredia as a doll, and how grateful the elven fairy was when she gave her those new clothes, then she remembers how in just 3 days, Shanghai and Hourai came to life.

Her memories rush to the first time Shanghai called her "mama Alice", and how happy they all were while together.

Alice breaks her train of thought when she faces the tired-looking Youmu, who stares back with sad, tired eyes, and sounding almost unwilling, she says "you... gi-give me that soul, and turn... turn around."

Alice glares back, Shanghai preparing her shield and lance while standing on Alice's shoulder, then Alice points at Youmu and says "you have no idea what you have done. I will make you..."

Alice notices how a tear escapes Youmu, then she and Shanghai look at each other with curiosity, and looking back at Youmu suspiciously, Alice says "if you don't want to fight just return Hourai to me and Shanghai so we can be on our way home!"

Shanghai adds "give me back my sister!"

Youmu takes a deep breath, closing her eyes and finding calm inside herself, then she opens her eyes again, showing her resolve to them, then says "there is nothing my sword won't cut! I see it is pointless to ask you again, so I'll just take that soul by force and MAKE you turn back!"

With that, Youmu and her ghost half split up and start shooting a curtain of green and yellow orbs that come from both sides and angles, closing in and making it seem as there isn't a way to dodge, however Alice and Shanghai both find small, tight gaps between the bullet showers and split up, positioning themselves in front of a target each.

Shanghai facing Youmu's ghost half, while Alice faces Youmu herself.

Without hesitation, Shanghai unleashes a barrage of aquamarine petals and sharp magical spears, while Alice summons three dolls; the two on the side shooting dark-purple shards, while the one being held by Alice fires a red laser beam.

Youmu and her ghost half are unable to dodge the attacks by Alice and Shanghai, however, their opponents have no trouble dodging their attacks.

Youmu and her ghost half stop shooting and regroup in the center of the stairs, then Youmu pulls out a spell card from her pocket and though she looks tired, she says in a determined voice "you leave me no other choice! You are a threat to Princess Yuyuko, so I must ki... I must kill you. Hell Realm Sword! 200 Yojana in-"

Before Youmu is able to finish her declaration, the echo from Hourai's song reaches all the way down the stairs, making her stop where she is, taking all her resolve away in just a second.

Alice stares confused for a moment until she hears the song as well.

She feels as if the fire in her soul is suddenly doused and replaced by a cold chill.

Shanghai, on the other hand, feels despair and drops her shield and lance, then pulls hard on Alice's capelet, desperately saying "mama, mama! That's Hourai! She needs us! Mama, hurry up! HOURAI, I'M HERE! I'M COMING!!"

Shanghai releases Alice and tries to fly away on her own, however Alice recovers and holds on tight to the tiny girl, then says "you're not going anywhere without your mama. What if something happens to you!?"

Shanghai struggles as hard as she can to break free from Alice, but finally manages to calm down and cries "Hourai is crying~! She needs me!"

While Shanghai rubs her face on Alice's chest, Alice brusher her hair with her fingers and looks to Youmu.

The Netherworld's gardener lies on her knees on the stairs, crying and saying "I can't do this. It's just too much. Please, you two, just give up. If that spirit just gets what she wants, she'll calm down. You, spirit, just give up already and join her."

Youmu continues to mumble on the stairs, while her words play over and over inside Shanghai's head.

Alice continues to fly up the stairs and says "don't give up now, Shanghai. Don't listen to that."

Shanghai raises her head to look up to Alice's as she continues "we are going home together, and that is that. I'm not giving up on either one of you, so please, don't give up on me either."

Shanghai looks at Alice a little longer, then closes her eyes and presses her face against Alice's chest and whispers "sorry mama. I promise, I won't give up."

-

At the top of the stairs, Yuyuko continues watching on as more spirits gather around the lone spirit hovering over the pond, then sighs and asks "aren't you going to listen to me? Anyone? ... Why aren't you listening to me?"

Again, Hourai's spirit begins her song again, this time expelling a very powerful emotion that makes Yuyuko sob as she holds her chest and drops on her knees to the ground.

The song lasts for at least 45 seconds, and when it finally stops, Yuyuko gets up from the ground, breathing heavily as she clenches her chest.

She looks to the spirit, and although she still cries, she calmly says "your sister is coming this way. You can be together once that girl returns her to us."

The spirits sings loudly, and although this time the song only lasts 5 seconds, it knocks the spirits and Yuyuko to the ground.

Yuyuko gets up, wiping the tears off her face while saying "what an ungrateful child. Oh well, she'll hopefully calm down once she's with her sister again. *sigh* So things can get back to normal again."

Alice and Shanghai stand by the long stairs behind Yuyuko, Alice crossing her arms while holding her grimoire against her chest, and Shanghai hovering to Alice's right.

Alice gets Yuyuko's attention when she demands "give us back our Hourai, princess."

Shanghai lets out a "hmph" when she nods, then crosses her arms across her chest.

Yuyuko smiles as she turns around, then starts to cry but calmly says "I believe it would be best for you to just give me her sister. I promise to take good care of them."

Seeing Yuyuko cry strikes Alice as strange, but she ignores it, then points at Yuyuko and says "I am going to take her back, even if I have to take her by force. After all, I AM her mother."

Yuyuko opens two fans, her crying eyes glow red, and as she starts to fly she says "tell you what. Since you are such a wonderfully responsible mother, show me how far are you willing to go for your... 'daughters'."

Before Alice prepares herself for battle, Hourai's spirits starts to sing her sad song again.

The moment the song reaches Alice and Shanghai, Alice concernedly yells "Hourai! We're here! We're taking you home soon!"

Shanghai adds "Sis! Hourai! Just wait a little longer!"

Shanghai frowns and scowls as she looks at the crying princess and threateningly says "we're going back home WITH mama, miss princess!"

Alice smiles confidently and starts to fly at the same height as Yuyuko, and while staring into the ghost princess' glowing red eyes, she says "let's go, Shanghai. And you, princess. You've messed with us for the last time!"

Yuyuko smiles whimsically, and sounding very friendly, even though she continues to cry, she says "oh, I totally agree, miss puppeteer."

In an instant, the sky above Hakugyokurou is filled with danmaku; petals, orbs of all sizes, shards, lasers, and butterflies.

Alice and Shanghai do a great job of keeping out of each others' way, but the concentration of danmaku is so much, they can't tell if they are hitting Yuyuko or not.

At the other side, Yuyuko manages to dodge Alice and Shanghai's attacks just barely, but she's also having trouble seeing ahead, as her own butterflies glow too brightly.

She manages to peek through one of the butterfly's wings and spots Alice.

She unleashes a straight line of blue orbs and manages to hit Alice with all 6 orbs.

Alice winces in pain as the orbs strike her hard, and Shanghai gets closer, concernedly asking "MAMA!? Are you alright!?"

Alice smiles, even though her face and left shoulder hurt from the barrage, and says "I'm alright, sweetie. Just make sure she doesn't see you!"

As she says that, Yuyuko manages to see Alice again, then shoots arcs of butterflies toward her.

Alice sees the attack coming, but Shanghai is still looking back to her and doesn't notice the butterflies.

Alice rushes to Shanghai, and with her free hand she grabs the tiny girl and uses her body as a shield from the butterflies.

Alice opens her mouth, as if screaming in pain the moment 3 of the butterflies strike her back, but she manages to hold her breath and continues to fly.

Shanghai cries "mama! I'm sorry, mama!"

Even though she's in pain, Alice smiles and says with a grunt "it's alright. I'll just have to get serious. She won't touch you! I won't let her!"

-

Shanghai cries as Alice continues to use her own body as a shield for her, however, Alice smiles and stares toward where Yuyuko should be, then whispers "are you ready, Shanghai?"

Shanghai nods rapidly, holding her urge to cry, then Alice releases her and says "get behind me!"

She pulls out a spell card from her pocket and immediately shouts "Puppeteer Sign! Maiden's Bunkaru!"

Right after she finishes declaring her spell card, there is a thunderous sound, and all the bullets in the field turn to energy for Alice's spell.

Yuyuko tries to wipe the tears off her eyes again, though they come back immediately after she's done, then stares back at Alice as she unleashes her spell.

An extra-large orange orb flies right out from Alice's hand, seemingly tied to a magical string, and after giving the string a tug, the orb unleashes various red beams.

Alice skillfully moves her fingers and trailing along these beams come various blue orbs, and after spinning her arm around she also unleashes a snow of red orbs.

Yuyuko manages to easily dodge through the first wave, however, Shanghai peeks her head from Alice's shoulder and starts firing as many aquamarine petals as she can, confusing Yuyuko during Alice's second wave of attack, and making her get struck by one of the beams, which has two lines of trailing blue orbs that strike Yuyuko hard, and before the ghost princess has time to recover, she is hit by the snowing red orbs and one of Shanghai's petal showers.

Yuyuko clenches her teeth in pain, using one of her fans to soothe the burning pain on her chest and arm.

Alice speeds up her spell and Yuyuko finds herself unable to dodge the 3rd and 4th wave, so she finally loses her calm composure and shouts "alright, that is it! I am through playing with you two!"

Shanghai stretches her lips with her own hands and sticks out her tongue, making a funny face, saying "old lady is a sore loser!"

A vein pulsates on Yuyuko's forehead as she cries, smiles, and angrily says "how uncivilized. If this is the kind of things you'll be teaching these children, you are better off leaving them here, miss puppeteer."

Yuyuko glare ominously as she pulls out a spell card, manages to dodge a red laser beam, then shouts "Deadly Dance! Law of Mortality -Dead Butterfly-"

Yuyuko twirls and spins, unleashing spiral after spiral of death butterflies and large spirits in sets of 5.

Alice is still concentrating on her own spell when Yuyuko's spell is unleashed and headed toward her.

Shanghai yells "mama, look out!"

Alice opens her eyes and realizes the butterflies are too close, so she grabs Shanghai, cancelling her own spell, and quickly stuffs her inside her backpack, where Hourai's body is, then tries to dodge, but it's too late and her entire body gets covered by death butterflies.

Paralyzed, all Alice can do is watch with horror as more butterflies cling to her body, and 5 of those large spirits come in a group, all absorbing Alice's life away.

The last spirit explodes when it makes contact with Alice and immediately the puppeteer screams out loud to the air, making all the butterflies and remaining spirits glow in a white burning light, then falls down to the ground.

From the pond, Hourai's spirit watches as the battle goes on, her singing stops as she places all her attention on the battle, and after hearing a scream she watches as Alice falls to the ground head-first.

The spirit panics and flies as fast as she can toward Alice, but the group of spirits now block her path when Yuyuko, who slowly floats back down, says "I don't want her to see this. Please, don't let her through."

Hourai's spirits quickly moves all around, trying to find a way through the spirits, but even when she tries to fly above them, they manage to block her path, so all she can do is think "mama! Sis! They came for me and now look what happened! I have to save them... I have to save them!!!"

-

Alice lies on a patch of dirt just next to the stone tiles of the shrine grounds with her eyes widely open, unable to move her body due to the pain coursing through her entire body.

Yuyuko stands several feet away from Alice with a smile on her face, the tears finally dried out from her maroon eyes, and feeling quite victorious, she says "I really do hope you've had enough. I'd hate to have to kill you over such a silly little dispute, so just return that soul to me and be on your way."

Inside the backpack, Shanghai tries to push the top opening so she can escape, but soon realizes it is almost impossible to do, so she sighs in defeat and says to herself "Hourai, if only you were here."

She touches around the inside of the backpack once more, hoping to find a way out, however she finds the backpack has one of Reimu's seal in it, then gasps and exclaims "so that's why!"

Alice twitches as she tries to lift herself up from the ground, coughing out some blood after managing to move her right arm, then starts to drag herself toward Yuyuko, grunting in pain and saying "I... will never... abandon... my girls!"

Yuyuko's eyes glow red and Alice cringes and groans, feeling as though her very soul is being forcefully pulled out of her body, then stops.

Yuyuko giggles and says "miss puppeteer, I truly do not wish to kill you, but you are pushing me to do this. Please hand over the other soul and be on your way... or die."

Again, Yuyuko's eyes glow red and Alice groans some more, but she wills herself to keep going and continues to drag herself to Yuyuko, weakly saying "I... will not... leave without them. I... promised... I would take... care... of..."

Alice falls on the cold stone ground, her eyes losing their shine as her life is slowly drained out.

She manages to smile, then thinks "dammit. She was too much for me. I'm so sorry... I couldn't keep my promise."

Inside the backpack, Shanghai keeps pushing against the opening, shouting "MAMA~! I'm coming mama! Even with this seal, I'm coming out! Just hold on!"

Yuyuko sighs and covers her mouth with her fan, then says "I didn't really want to do this, but you really left me no other... what the!?"

Powerful ripples with heavy energy distract Yuyuko, saving Alice's life just in time.

Yuyuko worriedly looks around, asking "what is that!? Where's that coming from!?"

Yuyuko notices how all the spirits scatter away from the pond, where Hourai's spirit expels powerful magical ripples that disturb even Yuyuko's own magic.

After all the spirits scatter away, the spirit bravely rushes to Alice and floats in between Yuyuko and the puppeteer.

Yuyuko stares at the spirit, then asks "you'd go against me, just for her?"

From the sky, Shikieiki's voice echoes all over the Netherworld as she says "you have performed your duties admirably, princess of the Netherworld."

A large white orb flies from the sky and lands next to Hourai's spirit, revealing Shikieiki, who smiles and continues "but I believe it's time to stop. I think they have already shown you well enough they are willing to give their lives for each other."

Yuyuko sighs in defeat, but smiles as she says "I guess you are right, Enma-sama."

Shikieiki smiles as she and Yuyuko bow to each other, then turns around and says "come on out, little one. Join your sister."

The backpack on Alice's back bursts open and Shanghai comes out holding Hourai's body, looking desperately around and shouting "mama, I'm here! I'll save you!"

Hourai's spirit rushes to Shanghai and starts to rub itself against her sister, making her giggle and say "Hourai~! Sister, you're back~!"

Shikieiki giggles, then says "it's alright now, miss Alice. You can stand."

Alice feels life coursing through her once more, the pain she felt moments earlier, gone.

She slowly sits up, and after straightening out, Shanghai, who is still Holding on to Hourai's body, and Hourai's spirits, tackle Alice to the ground again, Shanghai hugging her neck tightly while giggling and contently calling out for Alice, while Hourai's cold spirit rubs itself against Alice's face.

Alice laughs, holding both Shanghai and Hourai's spirits and saying "it's alright, I'm ok, really!"

Shikieiki smiles, then says "please, I believe if we are to have a proper conversation, miss Hourai should be in her body, so..."

Shikieiki points her sword at Hourai's body, making it fly to the air, then Hourai's spirit starts to float beside it.

There is a bright glow, and even Yuyuko covers here eyes.

-

Moments later, inside Hakugyokurou's living room, Youmu has prepared tea for everyone, even Shanghai and Hourai, who need to grab their cups with both hands and drink very carefully, or they could get drenched in tea.

Meanwhile, both Alice and Yuyuko await an explanation from Shikieiki, who takes a sip of tea and sighs contently.

She gently places her cup on the table and says "I was the one who allowed those two souls to be summoned into the dolls' bodies. You see, I received a most peculiar request. I was told a gentle and lonely soul was looking for a meaning for being, so I remembered these two gentle, but tormented souls, so I allowed the summoner to take those two souls, however my messenger failed to notify you of this, miss Saigyouji. I apologize."

Shikieiki bows as a small circle appears above her with a tiny Komachi, smiling and laughing sheepishly, saying "sorry about that."

Yuyuko sighs as she closes her eyes, feeling a little guilty for all she caused, then bows to Alice and says "then I give you my most sincere of apologies, miss Margatroid."

A vein pulsates on Alice's forehead as she smiles and says "it's alright now. Just be more prudent next time."

Shikieiki smiles again, then says "now, as for these two souls..."

When Shikieiki looks at them, both Shanghai and Hourai stare back with the outmost curiosity, but suddenly yawn and fall asleep.

Shikieiki looks straight into Alice's eyes and says "miss Alice. You heard their terrible story, you braved an unknown foe in the form of dangerous elements, you fought with adversaries 5, 10 and a maybe even a hundred times stronger than yourself, but you never gave up. You were even willing to give your life up for theirs. All to keep your promise to them, and to see them happy."

Alice stares at the sleeping dolls for a moment, then back at Shikieiki with curiosity, then Shikieiki asks "will you give these two souls that life that was so brutally taken away by that horrible monster of a man?"

Alice stares back with confusion and nods, then her eyes turn resolved as she says "I swear, these two will have a wonderful life with me. I'll do all within my power to fulfill that promise to them!"

Shikieiki smiles again, taking another sip of tea and placing her cup on the table, then says "that horrible soul that tortured these two to their deaths still burns in hell, plunged daily into the hottest pits of fire, and still, he asks what he do to deserve such fate. Fool. Now, I'll be sealing those memories from them. They don't need to remember that anymore. From now on, their memories will be of those with you, Alice. I wish to ask you, though... Would you like me to help you forget that story?"

Without hesitation, Alice shakes her head and says "I don't ever want to forget their story. As long as I remember that, I will always remember my promise to them, and will always do my very best for them."

Shanghai and Hourai glow brightly as they slowly float to Alice's hands, and while she embraces them, she realizes something and asks "miss yama? Is it ok for them to have these bodies? I mean, these were supposed to be dolls, and now they..."

Shikieiki raises her hand to stop Alice, then smiles and says "it would be too cruel to take their hearts away, wouldn't you agree?"

Alice stares back and smiles, then asks "and what about their mother? Whatever happened to her."

Shikieiki smiles, lifting her sword to her face, then says "please, do not be concerned for her. But if you really want to make sure she's happy, take good care of her daughters. I am sure that's what she would ask for."

Alice smiles and nods, looking down to the two sleeping girls on her arms.

Youmu comes from the kitchen with a tray full of snacks, and before she sets it on the table Yuyuko grabs a few and stuffs them in her mouth.

Shikieiki's face turns serious, then says "now, miss Alice Margatroid, I know this may seem improper, but I wish to ask you for a favor. Please, do not do this because I helped you and your children. Do not do this because you think you owe me, because you do not. Do this because it is the right thing to do."

Alice stares confused at Shikieiki for a moment, and nods without saying another word. Shikieiki sighs, then says "in two days, there is going to be an incident in the village, and another in the Myouren temple. Alice, I need you, and miss Youmu, to assist as best you can during these incidents."

Youmu stares back with confusion at Yuyuko, only to receive an approving nod from her mistress.

Shikieiki continues "Alice, you've already faced her; that woman that laughs in the darkness. She hides in the village, disguised as a harmless human. Don't go looking for her yet, because if you do, you'll be frowned upon. Wait for the incident to start, then make your move. If both of you can help during these incidents, many lives will be saved. Also, miss Alice. I am sure that by now you know about Marisa, correct?"

Alice scowls and says "all I know is she opened a dangerous portal."

Shikieiki nods and calmly stares into Alice's eyes, ready to give her instructions.

-

At the SDM, after having taken care of Sakuya, Rika heads to the great library in the basement.

Upon entering, she cautiously looks around and calls out "hello~! Miss Koakuma?"

There is no answer, so Rika enters the library and walks further inside.

Again, she calls "is anybody here? Miss Koakuma? Please, I need help with some books."

From behind a bookshelf, a sweet voice suddenly replies "coming~! Just a moment please."

Rika replies "I'll be over here", then claps her hands together under her waist, humming to herself as she sways left and right while waiting.

She hears a pair of wings flapping behind her and Koakuma's sweet voice, saying "yes, what is it miss Rika-wa-wa-wa-WAH~!!"

When Koakuma takes a good look at Rika her body gets stiff, her eyes turn white, and she tries to lean away from Rika, then screams and flies away, shouting "save me Patchouli-sama~! They sent an assassin to seal me~!"

Rika calls "wait, I'm not..." but Koakuma is long gone.

Rika whimpers, her lips wriggle in place as large teardrops fall from her eyes, then she says to herself "I'm not going to seal you."

The door to the library is heard opening up, then Patchouli's voice is heard, saying "ah, it's so good to be back home."

Patchouli comes across the whimpering Rika, then asks "miss Rika, what seems to be the matter?"

Rika looks at Patchouli with her saddened eyes and says "I'm not going to seal her."

Patchouli looks back with her expressionless eyes and says "ah, you've met Koakuma. Don't worry, she just needs to get to know you."

A silver washtub falls from the ceiling and straight on to Rika's head, making her run in circles, flapping her wings, repeating "ow, ow, ow.", while holding on to her head with both hands.

When she finally stops, she looks up along with Patchouli and Koakuma shouts "take that, you assassin!"

Patchouli stares at Rika, who stares back with saddened puppy eyes, then says "see? She's already playing pranks on you. That must mean she REALLY likes you a lot."

Rika smiles and flaps her wings, cupping her hands together in front of her chest as she excitedly asks "really, miss Patchouli!?"

From the ceiling, Koakuma shouts "NO!"

Rika's lips wriggle again, then Patchouli grabs her hand and says "please, come with me. I heard from Meiling you wish to learn more about great magic, correct?"

Rika whimpers "but I'm not going to seal her."

-

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

APR 10 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**First of all, I must thank the commenters and reviewers. It lifted my spirit to know I am doing a good job. As you may notice, none of my OCs made it here. This chapter was for Alice, Shanghai and Hourai, so it's alright. I hope you enjoyed this tale for the souls residing inside Alice's dolls, Shanghai and Hourai, and honestly hope you enjoyed the chapter entirely. Might take is slowly for next chapter, though. Take care, everyone.**

**EDIT:**

**Thanks to a friend, I was able to fix a pretty bad mistake I made here. I didn't even notice it until he pointed it out. Gotta be more careful next time *smiles*.  
**


	13. Chapter 13

It's morning in Gensokyo, where the sun shines brightly upon a beautiful spring day.

No one would ever guess that Alice Margatroid is engaged in many fierce battles at the Netherworld, however, that isn't the only tale that takes place this day...

-

At the Subterranean, in Parsee's house, Yuugi and Parsee busy themselves writing names on pieces paper, making them look as extravagant and colorful as they can.

Parsee finishes drawing her own name, making it look like balloons, while Yuugi finishes her own name, giving it a 3 dimensional look.

Parsee's eyes glow green for a second, then her lips widen and wriggle, and while looking at Yuugi with contempt, she says "yours is better! Why is that?"

Yuugi smiles, then tosses the paper away, then says "I'm just better than you, that's all."

Parsee trembles while biting down on her own thumb, while Yuugi continues to stare back with a festive smile on her face, then says "aw, cheer up. Let me help you with that!"

Yuugi takes Parsee's paper right from under Parsee's elbow, then starts to work her magic on it, using a pencil with great skill and agility, then is done in just a minute.

She presents the drawing with a "ta-dah~!", showing Parsee's name with a 3 dimensional balloon effect, making Parsee herself even more jealous.

Parsee takes the paper from Yuugi's hand and says "I'm so jealous of your skill!"

Yuugi chuckles, then says "let's give them some color. Maybe you're better than me at that."

Still staring at Yuugi with contempt, Parsee nods, then both girls begin to paint their names quietly, Yuugi inexplicably holding the paper with her own name again, until Parsee looks at Yuugi's name, then says "no way! I'll do that one, and you do this one!"

Yuugi smiles and shrugs, then says "sure. Let's switch."

After switching, there is quiet between the two, and while Parsee is distracted ruining Yuugi's name with green colors, Yuugi covers her mouth as she grins and quietly snickers, then pulls a small vial full of gold glitter, then turns it to empty it on the paper.

Parsee holds the glue on her left hand and takes Yuugi's glitter with her right while smiling, then her smile turns to a wicked grin as she says "not this time, miss oni!"

Yuugi smiles and mockingly says "oh, please, don't do that. You'll fill my name with glitter!"

Parsee rapidly applies the glue with the brush to her paper and empties the glitter on it, then blows on it all around the table while smiling with mischief.

Yuugi hums as she continues painting on her paper, ignoring Parsee as she mockingly says "please, stop, you're scattering glitter all over the place."

After scattering all the glitter, Parsee looks to Yuugi with a sense of accomplishment, and with a smug face, she shows Yuugi the paper with her name, then Yuugi exclaims "whoa, you're awesome, Parsee-chan. I could have never glittered my name so well!"

Parsee's smug face twists to a depressive state as she stares back at the smiling Yuugi, then realizes she glittered Yuugi's name to perfection.

Yuugi lifts her paper, showing Parsee her fully-colored name, then smiles as she contently says "I was hoping to add some glitter to the first letter... but it seems you had other plans."

With her defeated face, Parsee asks "what are you talking about?"

Yuugi smiles and points her hands all around the table.

Yuugi's name is now in glittered all over the table, on the floor and even on the spare chair to the left of Yuugi herself.

Parsee trembles as her lips turn jagged and her eyes are cast in shadow, and sounding ominously enraged, she says "you tricked me! You think you're so smart. I'm so damned jealous of you right now!"

Yuugi snickers, but both girls suddenly yelp and jump in surprise when a white light zips by close to the house, lighting up a large area as it does.

Yuugi and Parsee run out of the house and notice the light is headed straight to the Earth Spirit's Palace.

Parsee grabs her scarf, and while biting and pulling down hard on it, she mutters "so... damned... jealous!"

Yuugi stares with concern, then says "they might need our help there, so fun's over, princess. Come on!"

Yuugi runs ahead, while Parsee continues on her jealousy rampage for a moment, then realizes Yuugi is gone and runs after her, saying "why are you faster than me!? That's not FAIR!"

-

Meanwhile, at the Kappa-pa Resort's workshop, Nitori gives Marisa some last instructions while she and Mima prepare a green UFO, which is smaller than Flandre's own.

Nitori signals Mima to sit on the only other available seat next to Marisa's, then says "remember, you have to let this take in some sun if there isn't enough magic in the air for self-fueling. Also, those items I gave you are very dangerous. Use them sparingly, please."

Marisa nods, then surprises the little kappa by giving her a sudden hug while saying "you have no idea how grateful I am for your help."

Nitori's face turns bright red, then slowly pushes Marisa away, bashfully saying "er, y-yeah, heh heh. You're welcome."

Mima suddenly asks "oy, miss kappa. Who was that in the room across from ours? He sounded strange."

Nitori yelps and looks back to Marisa and Mima with shock and surprise, then says "er, um, that is... Um, he's a human I found lost in the forest about a week ago. He's recovering very nicely. So, um, once he's done recovering, he's going to live in the village."

While Nitori still looks awkwardly nervous, Mima stares suspiciously, but Marisa elbows Mima's abdomen, signaling her to settle down, then says "just ignore her, ze. She's just trying to get some attention."

Nitori calms down and smile, then says "oh, and um... sorry my experiment didn't work."

Marisa twitches for a moment, then sighs and calms down, then says "i-it's alright. I wasn't expecting to get my magic back so easily."

Marisa smiles confidently, then says "besides, thanks to that, and some of Mima's crash courses, I can use a few sparks... so thanks, da-ze!"

Nitori smiles as her cheeks turn pink, then she walks over to a lever to her left and pushes it with some effort.

A large gate opens up above the workshop, revealing an exit right next to the tengu's waterfall, and while Marisa starts up the aircraft, Nitori says "you let me know how all those work out. Like I said, I haven't been able to properly test them in the outside."

Marisa salutes Nitori as they rise to the air, then Mima says "oh, and sorry for clogging the pool 5 times in a row. You don't know how hard it is to keep a bikini on while phasing."

Nitori's eyes hide under shadow as the realization slowly hits her, then she angrily waves her fist at Mima while shouting "so it was YOU!!! Do you have any idea how many times I got sucked in by the filters!? HEY! I'm talking to you! HEY~~!"

Marisa and Mima are now flying just above the trees of the Youkai Forest, when Marisa asks "did you hear something, Mima-sama?"

Mima smiles, giggles and flaps her hand in the air in front of her own face and says "don't worry, don't worry. Just keep driving."

Mima suddenly realizes she doesn't know where they are going, so she looks at Marisa with curiosity, then asks "so, where are we going?"

Marisa smiles, hiding her worried eyes under her hat as she says "the Garden of the Sun. Since I can't use my Master Spark, I need that flower youkai's help for sealing that gate shut."

Mima stares curiously at Marisa for a moment, then asks "but why Master-?"

Marisa answer before she finishes "to completely seal that gate, I need powerful magic to destroy at least one of the stones holding that gate in place."

Mima stares expressionless toward Marisa, but then turns concerned when she notices great fear in Marisa's face.

She looks away, deciding to ignore that face, however, she occasionally glances over, wonder if she could say something to cheer her apprentice up.

-

At the same time, at the Myouren Temple.

Reimu walks down the road to the temple when she comes across a number of villagers, all looking a little worried and scared, murmuring something about the atmosphere.

Reimu approaches two men and asks "excuse me, what's going on?"

The man to the right answers "we tried to go to the temple today, but the nun there told us the temple was closed off."

The other man adds "and there was this weird feeling all over the atmosphere there. It was like being squeezed by the air itself, and the mouse youkai looked very frightening."

The first man immediately says "we all decided to head back, in case something happened."

The second man adds "it would be best of you keep away from that place, miss. I don't think it's safe."

Reimu watches as the two men quickly rejoin the group of villagers, then turns around and before long, she starts to fly toward the temple, saying "I'm not liking the sound of that. Maybe Byakuren is hiding something."

Immediately upon arriving, Reimu feels the cold air and heavy atmosphere around the temple grounds.

She bravely walks to the front gates and calls "hello~! Is anybody here!?"

She looks around and notices dark clouds looming right above the temple building and shouts "Nue, is that you!?"

Reimu continues to approach the gates, and since nobody answers, she pushes the doors open.

She looks inside the dimly lit temple, then Nazrin jumps from behind a seat, stretching her arms while saying "please, go back!"

From Nazrin's left, Ichirin stares with a preoccupied face and says "it's for your own good."

From behind Nazrin, Minamitsu reveals herself and says "it's really not safe here for you."

Reimu stares back at each girl, noticing a sense of urgency in their eyes, then asks "what's going on? The villagers all sensed something, and I can feel something very weird around here. Tell me, what's going on?"

Shou walks out of the rooms to the main hall, then approaches Reimu with a worried and tired look, then says "the day that magical shockwave hit this place, Lady Hijiri started feeling very dizzy. She finally collapsed a few hours afterward and hasn't woken up since."

Reimu looks back to Shou and asks "what happened? Where is Nue?"

Everybody seems to relax as Shou gets closer to Reimu while saying "Nue is with lady Hijiri right now. We don't really know what happened, but ever since she fell unconscious, those clouds have been covering the temple, and she's been mumbling about seals and Houkai. It's like, she's inside a nightmare and can't wake up."

From the rooms, Byakuren is heard screaming and calling for help, then silence once more.

Reimu pulls out her gohei and intends to break in, but Shou is already pointing her lance to Reimu's neck, and with a tired and worried expression, she says "I'm sorry, miss Reimu, but I'm afraid you can't go in."

Reimu clenches her teeth and glares at Shou, who sighs and says "whatever is affecting lady Hijiri also affects any human that gets close. Reimu, please leave, and let us handle this."

Reimu continues to glare for a moment, but relaxes and puts her gohei away, and while Shou pulls her lance away, Reimu asks "tell me something. Has Byakuren been with Marisa before?"

Shou looks back with curiosity, then Reimu says "that magical shockwave was caused by a dangerous magical experiment Marisa was conducting, and I discovered that in order for her to succeed, she would have needed help from another, more powerful magician."

Shou shakes her head, then says "I'm sorry, Reimu, but lady Hijiri hasn't been with miss Marisa at all."

Reimu looks into Shou's eyes, looking for any sign of lies, however she finds none, so she sighs and turns around, then says "back to where I started, then. Look, if you need any help with Byakuren... I'll be in the shrine."

Shou nods and says "that's very generous of you to offer us help. I will take it to consideration."

Reimu sighs again, waves at the girls, then flies away.

Nazrin approaches Shou and asks "do you think it was a good idea to tell her, master?"

Shou's eyes water as she looks toward Reimu's silhouette and says "I really don't know anymore, Nazrin."

Nazrin, Minamitsu, Ichirin and even Unzan, all stare back at Shou, hoping an answer would come for them soon.

-

At the Human Village, in Kyo's house, Medicine serves herself some tea and snacks and takes them on a tray outside, sits on the house's porch, and calmly drinks and eats, while watching the sky.

She sighs and says "so peaceful. Certainly better than those days at that hill, right Su-San?"

Su-San quietly flies in a circle above the doll's head as agreement, then a tiny sparrow zips past them, entering the house in a hurry, making Su-San spin around in the air for a moment.

Medicine takes a sip of her tea and calmly says "there goes the peace and quiet."

Su-San lands on Medicine's shoulder, then angrily nods.

Inside the house, Kyo screams and is quickly accompanied by the RKNS' angry chirps.

Kyo runs down the stairs to the living room, chasing after the little sparrow, then shouts "you KNOCK before entering the bathroom, you mangy bird!"

The RKNS slaps Kyo across the face with its wing, then Luna comes walking down the stairs and casually says "oh, mister Sparrow. Another incident already?"

The RKNS flies straight to Luna and give her a messy-looking letter.

Luna stares at it curiously, but quickly opens it and looks inside.

She covers her mouth, then says "Kyo, you better come and read this."

Annoyed, Kyo approaches Luna, then presses his cheek against hers, then reads out loud "dear whoever you may be. My name is Elly, the beautiful gate guard for your local flower youkai, miss Yuka Kazami. Something is very, very wrong with our Yukarin, and me and Kurumi, she's a friend, find ourselves trapped and kind of out of options. It would be very nice if you could send help our way, here on the Garden of the Sun (that's where we are trapped), and it would be even nicer if you bring that red and white shrine maiden. Oh yes, please tell her miss Yukarin is attacking everyone on sight. The beautiful Elly. P.S. If you could bring some blood, that would be so nice of you, and thank you."

After reading the letter, Kyo stares at it with disdain for a moment, then sounding annoyed he says "so? Go get that la—"

Kyo remembers what Reimu told him about before, and the beating he got from the bird in the Youkai Forest, so he re-thinks his words and says "alright, then. Let's get going."

Luna smiles and says "let's see if our training pays off", then rushes upstairs to look for her swords and flash pins.

Kyo sighs, then looks at the RKNS and says "if you're not gonna help, then buzz off. Let Reimu know we're on it."

The RKNS pecks Kyo's forehead, chirping angrily as he does, then flies away while Kyo chases him with his fist raised and shouting "get back here, you little creep!"

From the porch, Medicine calmly asks "so when are we heading out."

Kyo calms down and sounding serious he says "right now. You don't have to come if you don't want to."

Medicine smiles, and after she drinks the last of her tea she says "no way. You two need me."

Kyo smiles back, then suddenly starts thinking and asks "hey... have you seen that Agava girl? And what about those Kimi and Kali girls?"

Medicine shrugs and says "I don't know."

-

Inside the void, Ail and the guardian dragon calmly talk about Ail's memories.

Ail glows blue as he finishes his sentence, saying "and that's when we went to look for Budou on that other Makai. Sanae and I found the door to that place on a mountain in the outside world. I was doubting myself a lot during that time, and I think Sanae picked up on that. She was acting stranger than usual."

The dragon takes a deep breath, growling softly as he does, then says "you did mention she is a living goddess, so for her, achieving something like that would be only too easy."

Ail chuckles and says "well, I managed to lift my spirits when I thought about Budou's safety, and when all seemed to be going well... a mountain falls on top of Sanae."

Ail turns to light blue and says "I thought she was dead. I thought it was all my fault. Thankfully, a dragon from that world lifted the mountain for us, and we quickly found out she was just fine. Then he told us where to find Budou."

The guardian dragon smiles, then says "lucky he wasn't hungry, huh."

Ail turns back to blue, then says "oh yeah. I must say, if it wasn't for Dai-Drecon, we would have never found Budou."

The dragon abruptly stops Ail and asks "whoa, whoa, whoa! You met Dai-Drecon!?"

Confused, Ail turns lilac, stares back, and asks "yes? Why? Is he a friend?"

The dragon guardian sighs, then says "he is more than a friend. He is my master, and the reason I am in this paradise. Tell me, how is he?"

Ail calms down, now turning green, then says "well, he is a sight to behold. He seemed ok, but a little sad. The master of those lands seems to get under his nerves."

The dragon guardian sighs again, then says "the master of that land is vile. Master Dai-Drecon saved me from becoming his amusement and sent me to this land. We were supposed to come together, but..."

Ail finishes for the dragon "...he had to stay behind in order to save you, didn't he?"

The guardian dragon nods, then there's a loud roar from outside the gate.

Ail turns violet, then exclaims "it's that shadow dragon again! He's after the little one!"

The guardian dragon shouts "stay here. Don't come out. Just stay here and I'll take care of it!"

After the guardian dragon leave, Ail starts changing colors over and over, pacing left and right, then he hears two roars.

He looks to the gate and says "I don't care what he said. I have to help!", then rushes through the gate in a flash.

-

Meanwhile, outside of Marisa's house, Kali pants as she jumps on a tree branch with a frightened look on her eyes, and nervously looks around.

She slowly calms down after nothing happens for a while, then says to herself "boy, that dragon sure has some temper."

A hand wraps its fingers around Kali's neck, then Kimi places her face close to Kali's, smiling dangerously, showing jagged teeth while sneering, then says "now, I'm going to rip you to shreds, you overweight shadow!"

Kali turns to her shadow form in a panic, slips through Kimi's fingers, and heads straight to Marisa's house, shouting "I'M NOT FAT! I haven't even had a decent MEAL!", then enter through the small crack under the door.

Kimi growls softly, clenching her hand into a fist with such force her hand turns white.

She jumps from the tree and immediately chases after Kali.

The door is open, so she calmly enters the messy house, and while looking around she says "tch! This place should be like a playground for her."

She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, then opens them again to look around for any sign of Kali's body heat.

She can't find her in the room, so she decides to move further inside, looking around for any sign of the shadow, however, unknown to Kimi, Kali is already leaving through the crack of one of the windows.

Kimi continues to look inside, then comes across the door to Marisa's basement.

The moment she opens the door, a powerful vacuum threatens to suck her in, however she keeps on her feet and casually enters the room.

She closes the door behind her and stares at the vortex in front of her and says "hmph! Someone was playing a dangerous game here."

She takes casual steps down the stairs, and the moment her foot touches the ground, the vortex stops sucking the air and everything seems to freeze in place.

Kimi smirks, then says "it seems it likes me."

Kimi hears dragon roars coming from inside the vortex, then her smirk turns to a longing face as she says "d-dragons? Here?"

Without thinking, she rushes inside the paralyzed vortex and enters it, and the second she leaves the room, it begins to suck in air again.

Inside the vortex, Kimi finds herself in a dark corridor with a ceiling that has purple waves coursing through it.

She looks ahead, ignoring the black walls and floor in the void, then focuses on the small light ahead of her and begins to walk toward it.

It seems like at least half an hour has passed, but Kimi continues to walk toward the light without stopping, then the light suddenly becomes larger in size.

Kimi smiles and says "thought so. Just a pathetic illusion."

She hears a few more dragon roars coming from inside the gate and again her eye fill with longing, so without hesitation, she walks inside the gate.

Once outside, she finds two dragons fighting fiercely, shooting fireballs and whipping their tails at each other while avoiding getting clawed or bitten.

One of the dragons is black and white and she immediately recognizes him as the alpha, while the other is black with a red belly, which reminds her of Kali, for some reason.

Kimi looks around, a smile fills her face, and without waiting for another second, she turns into her snake-dragon form, which reveals she's a lot smaller when compared to the other two dragons, then joins the black and white dragon, saying "allow me to help!"

The guardian dragon stutters for a moment, then asks "and who might you be, miss?"

Kimi says "Kimi Hong, sir. Allow me to deal with this cow."

The black and red dragon roars, and in a rough tone of voice, she says "watch it, tiny! Just because you're new doesn't mean I'll go easy!"

Kimi smirks, then charges at the black and red dragon.

Her entire body seems to get surrounded by intense flames, and as she rushes to the black and red dragon, blue waves of fire, twice her own size, trail along with her as she tackles the shadow dragon so quickly she doesn't have time to retaliate, and shortly after Kimi strikes, the waves of blue fire overwhelm the gigantic dragon, making her fall with a roar to the ground.

Kimi regroups with the guardian dragon, then says "see? Piece of cake."

Surprised, the guardian dragon says "for a small one like you, you sure have some power, miss Kimi. That was a spell from a red dragon. Where do you come from?"

Kimi coils herself up to look at the guardian dragon's eyes and casually says "Gensokyo."

The guardian dragons smiles, then says "oh, then maybe you know about Ail!"

Kimi points behind her and casually asks "you mean that fireball thing hiding the whelp?"

Surprised, the guardian dragon looks past Kimi, shouting "WHAT!?"

Ail's flame changes colors as he pushes a small baby blue dragon behind a rock for protection, and when he looks to the guardian dragon, he takes humanoid shape and waves his arms to the dragon.

The guardian dragon roars and shouts "AIL, GET BACK INSIDE!"

Ail's flame suddenly disappears like a cloud of smoke, then the guardian dragon looks back to Kimi with urgency, and says "miss, I know where he is, but I'll need help. Will you help me get him back?"

Kimi looks away, thinking "great, that boy again. Tch! What a pain. I just wanted to look around here, but I guess I'll have to babysit that kid for a bit."

She turns to face the guardian dragon, suddenly bushes, then looks away and nods, saying "fine. I think I may be able to help out more than you think. My left eye will find him with ease."

As the two dragons fly away, the guardian dragon asks "so, you were cursed before?"

Kimi replies "yeah, yeah", and thinks "crap, why'd he have to be so cute. Geez, how annoying."

From the ground, the shadow dragon glares at Kimi and says "I'll remember this, you freak!"

-

Back at the subterranean, at the Palace of the Earth Spirits, Komachi walks around the palace with a bored expression, resting her head on her arms behind herself.

She sighs and says "oh, this is so embarrassing! I'm lost, and it's so quiet and boring in here. Sigh, I hope Eiki-sama is right about this!"

From farther ahead, a calm voice asks "is someone there?"

Komachi smiles and excitedly calls back "hello~! Finally, some signs of life!"

Satori reveals herself from behind a pillar just ahead of Komachi, holding petal on her hand, who wears Rika's gift necklace.

Satori approaches Komachi, then asks "have you come for one of my pets, perhaps?"

Komachi lazily smirks as she flaps her hand in the air and says "relax, I'm not here to pick anyone up. Just to deliver a message. Er... though you might want to check on your cat. She totally freaked out when she saw me."

Satori casually says "Phew, thank goodness. Oh, it seems you met Orin. Please, excuse my rudeness, but my own heart skipped a beat when I saw you."

Petal suddenly notices Komachi, desperately caws and tries to fly away, but Satori holds her tightly and says "it's alright. Don't be scared."

At the entrance to the palace, Orin lies on her back inside her own wheelbarrow, foaming at the mouth while violently twitching.

Yuugi and Parsee stare at her for a moment, and with righteous determination, Yuugi says "crap, we're too late for her! Parsee, we have to hurry! Satori might be in danger!"

Sounding casual, Parsee says "I think she just fainted. Look, she even wet herself."

Yuugi grabs hold of Parsee's shoulders and says "you are SO brave! To be so positive in the presence of a fallen comrade! Now come, I believe I now know who we are dealing with! Be ready, for this battle may be fierce, but together, we can WIN! Now come!"

Parsee stands next to Orin, and as she stares at Yuugi, her eyes glow green and her lips wriggle, then she angrily says "why are you being so righteous!? I'm very jealous of you right now!"

Back inside the palace, at ah large garden with an entrance to the former hells, Satori serves tea to her guest, while Petal pecks around the ground, making flowers bloom all over gazebo they sit under.

Satori notices Petal is getting too close to the hole leading to the former hell, so she sternly says "Petal, you keep away from there. You know you can't resist the heat."

Petal hops away from the hole, then pecks another patch of ground, making a single red rose bloom.

Komachi rests her elbow on the table and her head on her fist as she stares at Petal with a smile on her face, then says "such a nice little girl. To think she was just a shadow before."

Satori stares at Komachi, then says "I understand you have to do what you are told, but please, try to take the fight away from the flowers."

Komachi smiles, then Satori says "I know I have Petal, but she's not some machine to exploit."

Again, Komachi smiles widely, then says "it's alright. It'll all work out just fine."

Just as she finishes these words, and Satori asks "what do you mean?"

Yuugi and Parsee reach the garden and Yuugi shouts "you have some nerve, coming to take souls from HERE! I'll teach you a lesson you'll NEVER forget!"

She jumps to the air and launches a fierce downward punch straight at Komachi, who casually takes one last sip from her teacup, then jumps away at the very last second.

Realizing she missed, Yuugi rubs her fist while smiling and says "well, I wasn't expecting an easy fight. After all, I'm fighting death."

Komachi smirks, then says "let's see what you guys got, alright?"

-

They battle all over the garden, however, not a single flower has been harmed since the entire battle has been about punches, kicks and well-timed dodges.

Komachi continues to smile and almost never attacks, however, Yuugi furiously assaults her, constantly throwing furious punches straight at Komachi's smiling face.

While the battle goes on, Parsee and Petal watch from behind the single red rose, while Satori looks worriedly toward the both of them as they are very close to the former hell's entrance.

Parsee looks at Petal with contempt, however she blushes and says "y-you are cute", then rubs the side of her cheek, making Petal caw softly.

Meanwhile, Yuugi grabs hold of Komachi's scythe, making the shinigami smile with malice and say "you're very powerful miss oni, but all the strength in the world doesn't compare to the power I wield, so why don't you just stop and let me do my job?"

Yuugi pulls Komachi closer to her and tries to headbutt the shinigami, however she somehow vanishes, turning to an orb of light, then appears just above the small gazebo she was sitting under just moments before.

From the ground, Yuugi glares with fury and says "I would never interfere with your work, but there is no reason for you to be here. I want you out of here and not come back until it's actually time for you to come!"

Komachi sticks out her tongue while smiling casually, then scratches her head and says "mmm~, let me think, umm, nope! I do have something to do here. If you plan on interfering with me..."

Komachi takes her scythe with her right hand and twirls it in front of herself until it stops with the blade covering half of her face, and while looking straight back at Yuugi with a determined smile, she says "I'm going to have to beat you up real badly. And that would be a shame, miss oni."

Yuugi jumps toward Komachi with her left fist raised, ready to strike the shinigami, but Komachi easily jumps out of the way, flipping in the air and striking Yuugi on the back of the head with the lower part of her scythe, sending Yuugi flying straight toward Parsee and Petal.

Although Parsee and Petal manage to get out of the way just in time, Petal panics and flies into the depths of the former hells.

Satori screams "PETAL, COME BACK!"

Parsee stares curiously at Satori, who almost cries as she says "she'll die down there!", then waste no time and jumps in after the small hell raven's shadow, followed closely by Yuugi.

Komachi smiles and lifts her fist then quickly pulls it back down, exclaiming "yes! She did it!"

Almost crying, Satori quickly approaches Komachi and asks "are you sure Petal will be ok!?"

Komachi smiles, and in a reassuring tone she says "don't worry. She'll be fine. That girl will save her!"

Down the hole, Parsee easily catches up to the frightened Petal and grabs a hold of her, already sweating form the heat emanating from farther below.

She looks down below, then back at Petal, then says "phew! This heat is murder. Didn't Satori tell you it's dangerous down here...? Oh?"

Parse notices the stone on Petal's necklace, and for an instant, she notices a strange and soothing green glow surrounding the raven that comes from the stone itself.

Her eyes glow green for a second, then she stares at Petal and says "that necklace is so cute. I'm so jealous. But let's get out of here, so I can be properly jealous where it's cool."

As they go back up, they are intercepted by Yuugi as she rushes down to save them both.

Parsee lets out an "oomph" as Yuugi grabs her and Petal, then quickly turns around and says "that stupid shinigami almost took you, but oh no, I won't let her!"

Parsee stares at Yuugi, then angrily says "why are you so kind!? I'm really jealous of that!"

Yuugi smirks and says "fine, you can be jealous up there. It's much cooler!"

-

After reaching the surface, Yuugi gently drops Parsee and Petal to her left, then raises her fists and says "alright, you went too far, now I'm gonna...!"

Satori stands in front of Komachi and says "it's alright Yuugi. It's over. She's leaving already."

Yuugi raises her left eyebrow and stares at Satori while lowering her fists, then asks "then why the hell was all of this for?"

Komachi smiles and points at Parsee, then says "Shikieiki-sama needs your help. I am not sure if you're aware, but there's been a terrible incident on the world above, so we have been searching for some helping hands, to deal with this problem."

Parsee continues to hold Petal in her hands, and while petting her head she asks "why am I not feeling jealous of you? You say this so calmly. I should be so jealous!"

Satori calmly says "it's because, she is very worried. In truth, this incident could cost more than mere deaths."

Komachi sighs, her smile vanishes, and as she continues to stare to Parsee, she says "that's right. This involve you too. Will you help us?"

Parsee stands sideway and looks away from Komachi, and sounding a bit annoyed she says "well, I guess I got nothing else to do for now. And the bridge is kinda boring lately... so I guess I can go up there and be jealous of you surface dwellers for a while."

Komachi smiles again and bows as she says "your assistance is much appreciated."

When she lifts her head again, she spots Okuu aiming her control rod and her.

Komachi's face turns blue, her eyes widen, then she smiles and nervously says "er, well, it was nice getting to know you all, but now it's late so I gotta go, bye!"

Satori, Yuugi and Parsee all look at each other curiously as Komachi flies away.

Petal excitedly caws and suddenly Okuu says "intruder detected in the vicinity. Prepare to remove in 5, 4, 3, 2..."

Satori, Yuugi and Parsee turn around and find Okuu preparing a large orb of energy while looking toward where Komachi was.

Satori shouts "Okuu, stop! You're going to destroy the garden!", but it's too late and she and the other two girls find themselves flying away as fast as they can to avoid Okuu's excessively overpowered attack, which she unleashes with a smile while saying "thank you. Don't come again!"

Meanwhile, by the palace's entrance, Orin walks inside with a very discontent look on her face and says "oh. I even went and wet myself. Stupid girl, coming out of nowhere and carrying that large weapon. What was she thinking!?"

Orin's face turns white, her eyes shrink to the size of marbles, and she twitches in place as Komachi hurriedly flies straight at her with her scythe on hand.

Orin jumps high to the ceiling, shouting "NYA~~! She's back~!"

Komachi ignores Orin, who clings to the ceiling with her claws and trembles, then goes right through the doors and heading back to the surface.

Orin trembles as she stares toward Komachi, then slides down, scratching the ceiling and pillar, then asks "eh? She just went through...?"

There is a sudden explosion, and Orin's entire body stiffens, then she falls to the ground on her back, foaming at the mouth.

-

That afternoon, at the Moriya Shrine.

Budou sits next to Sanae on the shrine's porch, watching as Sanae stares at the crystal rose Reimu gave her.

Budou stares at Sanae for a moment, then asks "mama? Are you going to call?"

Sanae sighs, then says "I suppose we better do this now."

She stares into the rose's bud, then gently says "Ayalina. Can you hear me?"

At first, nothing happens, but the rose suddenly starts to open up, and after it becomes a fully bloomed rose, a blue image of Ayalina appears before Sanae and Budou.

She smiles and says "miss Sanae. Little Budou? Where is miss Reimu? Wait, more importantly, is Ail doing alright?"

Sanae and Budou look at each other in surprise, then Sanae turns to face Ayalina and asks "how did you know Ail was here?"

Ayalina places her hand on her chest and says "he mysteriously disappeared one day, and somehow... I knew he was there."

Budou calmly asks "then why didn't you try and contact him? Aren't you his mama? Weren't you worried for papa Ail?"

Ayalina places her other hand on her chest on top of the first, looking very saddened after the question, then, before Sanae scolds Budou Ayalina says "we are being constantly watched by very mean men, little one. The only reason I was able to answer you, is because I'm inside my bathroom."

Sanae smiles sheepishly and says "I hope we didn't interrupt anything."

Ayalina chuckles and says "no, dear, you didn't. Now tell me, if Ail is back, why those long faces?"

Budou and Sanae look at each other and stutter for a moment, then Sanae takes a deep breath and says "before we got to Ail... something happened. And now, although we do have his body safe and sound, he's acting entirely on his subconscious. The worst part is..."

Budou flaps her wings and shouts "we don't really know HOW to get papa back! All we have is his body, but not papa!"

She starts to sob, then says "I want him back! M-maybe he can get Phredia back for me too!"

Ayalina looks to Budou and stares for a while, and in a sad tone of voice she says "I see. All that has happened, huh? Well, I can't go in and help, since we're under constant watch here."

Sanae sighs and says "we understand. Don't we, Budou?"

Budou rubs her left eye and nods, then Ayalina smiles, but suddenly worries and says "someone's coming. Look, if I can, I'll try to go and help in any way I can, but not right now. Sorry. Don't cry, little one. Be strong for Ail..."

Ayalina's image disappears and the rose shrinks back into a bud.

Budou calms down and looks at Sanae, who has a helpless look on her face, then she gets up and walks to her, wrapping her wings and arms around Sanae, saying "I'm sorry... I know you are trying your best, mama."

Sanae snaps out of her thoughts and realizes Budou is covering her up with her wings, then chuckles and wraps and arm around Budou's neck.

She gives Budou a kiss on the side of her head and says "we'll get Ail back, Budou. As for... Phredia..."

Budou twitches, feeling a sense of despair in her, however she manages to calmly say "she will come back, mama. You'll see. She and papa will come back to us."

Koishi suddenly appears sitting next to them and says "but before that happens, I believe you two will learn something first."

Budou and Sanae both look back at Koishi in shock, then Sanae asks "when did you get here!?"

Koishi simply smiles while Lily and Ail fly by, both spreading their danmaku around as if it were some sort of game.

Underneath the ground, Hatate can hear the bullets exploding on the ground, but is unable to move or call for help, so to pass the time, she decides to count how many explosions there are in a second.

-

Meanwhile, during the afternoon, Alice flies above the village with Shanghai and Hourai accompanying her, and while she looks down she says "the village. I can't believe we'll be fighting with that girl in just 2 days."

Shanghai approaches Alice and says "don't worry, mama. You can do it!"

Hourai approaches Alice from the other side and adds "and you have US too. We won't let them hurt you, mama!"

Alice smiles and thinks "you certainly have proven that already."

A few minutes later, Alice arrives to her house with both her girls and after landing in front of her house, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, then smiles as she opens her eyes again and says "we're back home, girls."

Shanghai excitedly cheers and says "Hourai, mom and me, as it should be!"

Hourai adds "I'll even bake us a cake!"

Alice giggles and says "let's just go inside first, what do you say?"

Alice opens the door and Shanghai and Hourai quickly fly inside, and when Alice takes a step inside, a small silver washtub falls on her head, knocking her to the ground.

Hourai rushes back and yells "mama! What happened, mama!?"

Three fairies sit on the ceiling's supports, giggling amongst themselves, thinking they can't be heard or seen, however, Shanghai hovers next to them, staring them with a neutral expression on her face.

From outside the house, echoes of blasts and screams are heard all the way back to Marisa's own house.

Meanwhile, at the shores of the Sanzu River, Komachi and Shikieiki regroup.

Shikieiki approaches Komachi with a smile and says "it was a little rough, but I was able to succeed. How about you, Komachi?"

Komachi laughs as she rubs the back of her own head and says "well, it went down just as you predicted, Eiki-sama. The girl showed me she actually cares and accepted without question."

Smiling, Shikieiki says "good, good. And did you tell her what she has to do?"

Komachi's face turns blue and she starts to sweat.

Her eyes shrink and she nervously says "um, well... err, you see, this REALLY powerful raven came by and started to attack me, so I had to run away and..."

Shikieiki continues to smile as she gets closer to Komachi, and in a sudden swing of her arm she strikes Komachi's head hard with her sword, shouting "REPENT!!!"

Komachi falls to the ground with her eyes spinning in place, then Shikieiki lets her sword fall to the ground.

Her hand trembles, and as she looks at it she says "I see. It's still not fully healed..."

She looks at the unconscious Komachi, then says "it hurts... but it's worth it."

-

That night, at the Library in the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Patchouli and Rika quietly read through some books, then Rika suddenly asks "miss Patchouli... If I were to use one of these great magic spells without knowing how... would they work?"

Patchouli casually says "not at all."

Rika curiously looks into her book and says "oh, I see..."

Patchouli buries her face into her own book, then says "you'd just end up dead, sealed in another existence, or you could wind up dead without actually knowing you are dead at all. So it's a good thing you haven't tried these out."

Rika's face turns white, sweat drops fall quickly down to her neck, and the maid trembles as she thinks about it, then says "and you say that so casually?"

The sound of a cup breaking somewhere in the mansion reaches Rika's ears, then she stands up, completely recovered from her shock, then casually says "seems miss Scarlet needs something. I won't be long, miss Patchouli."

The magician grabs Rika's sleeve before she leaves, then raises her sight to meet Rika's and sounding strict she says "don't let her get to you, Rika. You are just doing your job."

Rika stares back in surprise, but recovers her usual smiling face, nods, then says "thank you for the advice, lady Patchouli."

-

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Kyo, Luna, Budou, Phredia, Agava, Kimi, Kali, the RKNS, Dai-Drecon and Ayalina were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot2010

APR 15 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**So many things happening at once, huh? Well, it's all for a better tomorrow. Heh, poor Orin. I shouldn't be so mean to her, but it was fun for sure. Oh well, hope you all enjoyed, and always pray to the spirits for good things to happen. they love it when we pray to them. As Wriggle. She knows.  
**


	14. Chapter 14

It's early morning, and Kyo, Luna and Medicine walk out of Eintei, Kyo holding a large jar of blood on his hands.

Annoyed, Kyo says "you know, we really didn't have to do this. In fact, we would probably be back home, taking a good rest if we didn't trek all the way over here... for THIS!"

Luna smiles and says "take it easy. Besides, she asked for that blood so politely. And you do know little Kurumi is a vampire. If what that letter says is true..."

Medicine finishes in a matter-of-factly tone "then she should be literally, starving to death."

Kyo growls softly, but keeps quite while thinking "sure, you both act so damned casual. This was MY blood, after all."

Luna waits for Kyo to pass by, and with an angelic smile, she wraps her arm around Kyo's neck, kisses his cheek, then says "I heard that. And for being such a good sport, I'll cook breakfast, lunch and dinner for a week. What do you think of that?"

Kyo, Su-San and Medicine strike a cool thumbs-up pose while wearing sunglasses, Kyo saying "alright! Let's take this blood to poor Kurumi!"

At the same time, Medicine says "no curry for a week! I'm proud of you, Kyo!"

A vein pops on Luna's head as she continues to smile and walk away, then says "of course, if you start acting like idiots so early, I might reconsider."

Kyo, Su-San and Medicine sweat and recompose themselves in a second, then quietly walk behind Luna.

Kyo abruptly asks "hey, you guys... Why aren't we flying? It's faster."

Luna turns around, and with a neutral face she calmly says "remember I can only fly for an hour, so if we were to fly from here, you'll probably have to carry me home."

Kyo grins and says "I see no problem with that, do you, Medi?"

Medicine rests her head on her arms behind herself, and while looking at Su-San, she comments "yes, I know, he's a real pervert."

A vein pops on Kyo's forehead as he clenches his teeth and threateningly says "you want me to take you apart, don't you!"

Before Medicine answers, Luna unsheathes her swords and shouts "LEFT, RIGHT, FROM CENTER!"

Medicine jumps to the left, Kyo to the right, then Luna jumps to avoid a small fireball headed her way.

On the sky, a lone vampire stares down on her pray and smiles as she says "two humans and a weak little youkai! What LUCK! They even got an appetizer ready for me!"

Before she even realizes it, Luna is already cutting off her left wing, sending her crashing down to the ground, where Medicine casually walks closer and says "some medicine from the weak little youkai", then extends her arms toward the fallen vampire and expels a dark-purple cloud, making her cough violently, then suddenly stop.

Kyo jumps from the right with his sword facing downward, shouting "you vampires have gotten WAY too cocky!"

He stabs the vampire from the back, getting to her heart, making her body burn in fire, then turn to ash.

Kyo calls back his sword, still holding on to the jar of blood, then looks at Medicine, then Luna, and says "what is WITH these vampires. I thought the sun was supposed to fry them."

Looking very serious and sounding equally serious, Luna says "whatever it is, it sure is dangerous for humans. Let's hope Reimu manages to put things back in their place, or we'll be in a world of trouble."

After exchanging worried glances, Kyo, Luna, Medicine and Su-San quicken their pace, aiming to reach the Garden of the Sun as soon as possible.

At the Myouren Temple, even though it's daytime, the entire temple looks like it's covered by the curtain of night.

Even inside, the lights seem to lose their brightness with each passing day.

Nazrin and Ichirin walk to the rooms with a tray of soup and water, and before opening the sliding door the their destination, they kneel and place the tray in front of them.

Nazrin says "here's the food, master. Do you think this will work?"

Shou opens the door in a hurry and says "we have to try, right!"

She takes the tray from the ground and hurries inside the room, then places it on a small table next to Byakuren's bed, where Byakuren herself seems to be in terrible pain, sweating and turning her head around violently, whimpering and talking about seals, Houkai, Makai, then suddenly calls for help.

Shou makes a short prayer and the tip of her fingers glow with a golden light she gently places on Byakuren's forehead, appeasing her immediately.

Shou rapidly takes the spoon next to the soup bowl and gently feeds Byakuren, who gulps down a single spoonful, but turns her face away after the second one is offered.

Shou quickly takes the spoon away and grabs the cup of water, and gently turns it sideways, allowing Byakuren to take a small sip.

Ichirin and Nazrin approach the bed and notice Byakuren slowly opens her eyes, then looks around.

The three girls gasp with excitement, then Shou asks "l-lady Hijiri! How are you feeling?"

Byakuren violently jumps from her bed and grabs Shou by her shirt with a most disturbing look of terror in her eyes, and sounding desperate, Byakuren says "help me! Crystals! Seal... girl. Help... HELP ME!"

Shou grabs Byakuren by her shoulder and shouts "Hijiri, what's wrong!"

Byakuren closes her eyes and falls back to a seemingly peaceful sleep.

Shou sighs, almost letting out a loud sob as she places the shaking body of Byakuren back on her bed.

Ichirin looks away, then says "ma-maybe Reimu can help. Shou..."

Nazrin approaches Shou and says "it's worth a try!"

Shou looks down to Byakuren, as her body start hovering just above the bed, then says "I... I need some air."

After Shou storms out of the room, Nazrin and Ichirin look at each other, and in a sad tone, Ichirin says "just like the first day. Maybe Shou is being too proud!"

Nazrin sighs and slowly shakes her head, then says "she just believes we are out of options, and honestly I'm starting to think the same."

Outside the temple, Shou paces back and forth around the temple grounds, then stops and raises her head.

From farther ahead, she hears the faint voice of a small girl, saying "but she said in 2 days. Why are we here now, Yuyuko-sama?"

A woman promptly replies "you clearly weren't paying attention, Youmu. She said you'd assist miss Alice in two days."

The girl called Youmu sighs, then says "I know, so why are we here now?"

The one called Yuyuko giggles and says "I guess you'll just have to find out~"

Shou raises her spear and whispers "intruders!"

Youmu and Yuyuko continue to approach the temple, then Yuyuko stops and smiles just as they are about to enter the grounds.

Youmu looks a little confused and asks "Yuyu-sama, is something wrong?"

Yuyuko smiles, takes two steps to the left, then says "get ready, Youmu."

Shou drops from the sky with her lance aiming at Youmu's chest, but the half-ghost unsheathes both swords in a flash and deflects Shou's attack with ease.

Youmu is about to rush after Shou, but Yuyuko opens her fan, getting Youmu's attention, then says out loud "my, is this any way to greet your guests? And here we come in good will to help you out."

Shou snaps back "how are two ghosts going to help us!"

Yuyuko giggles, closes her fan, then stares at Shou and says "this little one can save your master, miss tiger youkai."

Shou stares back with curiosity at the two ghosts, still holding her defenses up as she makes up her mind about them.

Meanwhile, Ail wakes up inside a bright room, where the yellow and black checkered floors are polished to the point of looking like a mirror, and the furniture is so abnormally large, cities could be built on them and there would still be space for more.

As he looks around, his flame constantly shifts colors, but stays mostly green and blue, and that is when he notices a large desk adorned with golden strands over the edges.

As he looks up, a deep, angry voice growls and says "so, we finally meet, mister... 'Ali'".

Calling his name mockingly, the dragon yama reveals his red, angry and scaly face to Ail, smiling with malice in his eyes.

A thin and small purple dragon stands to his side, holding a scythe twice her own size, glaring at Ail with hungry eyes as she asks "what do you think we should do with this one, sir?"

Ail quickly realizes where he is, and in a demanding tone of voice, he asks "why am I here? I'm not dead yet! What is the meaning of this!"

The dragon yama bangs his mighty fists on his desk and shouts "SILENCE!"

The purple dragon angrily says "how DARE you speak to us in such manner! You will bow like the rest and await for YOUR turn to speak!"

Ail scoffs and says "can't do that... I'm a flame. I can't bow."

The purple dragon gasps in shock, then turns around and away from Ail and the dragon yama, muttering to herself about respect and nonsense of every-day life.

The dragon yama ignores his shinigami and angrily says "you meddling human! That whelp you saved was supposed to be here at this VERY MOMENT! Do you realize what you have done!"

Ail turns bright red, and trying to sound calm he asks "so, I was supposed to just let that little one die by that blue fire, is that it!"

The dragon yama blows some fire at Ail, however the flames seem to bounce off him, then the yama angrily says "you invaded this paradise and now you are interfering with the fate intended for others! You should count your blessings, for I would have you in my hands right now and deform your very soul!"

Ail scoffs at the dragon yama, then says "well, aren't YOU merciful. You should be thanking me for saving that innocent's life from such death!"

The dragon yama jumps from his seat, his aura becoming visible as it turns fiery red, then he lands right in front of Ail's flame, showing the human their difference in size as he towers over the speck that Ail's flame is in comparison.

He glares at the tiny soul, which still glows red, and says "I don't care if you are NOT from this jurisdiction! I am going to pass judgment on you right now! But before I do, I'm going to BREAK that fighting spirit of yours!"

The dragon raises his hands and red, green and yellow bolts of lightning spread from his fingertips and quickly head toward the brave little spirit, but at the very last moment, two beams of light block the powerful magic bolts, then reveal themselves as one says "don't you DARE break your oath, yama of the beasts!"

When Ail takes a good look, he sees Shadow Suwako and Shadow Shinki, only he can barely remember them, and yet feels safe and turns to a natural blue color.

Girlie turns her head and says "hello~!"

Ail looks back at them as the other one turns around, then says "y-you... are friends... of mine? Right?"

Spee frowns as she stares back with her grey eyes, then says "I'm going to have a word with you, Ail."

Both turn their head around to face the dragon yama once more, then Spee says "if you are this eager to pass judgment, do so on me, but I will remind you, there will be consequences."

The dragon yama glares at the two angels for a moment, then calms himself down and flies back to his seat behind the desk, then says "I will send the report to your yama, but be warned. If he tries to mess the fate of this universe one more time, I will not hesitate to judge him."

Spee and Girlie nod at the same time, then they turn to Ail, Spee grabs him, then quietly take him away.

Girlie waves her right arm at the yama and his shinigami, making the large sleeve roll back to her shoulder, then says "take care! See you later!", and finally flies away.

The shinigami dragon approaches her boss, then asks "you're letting them go, just like that!"

The dragon yama sneers and whispers "take this message to Gensokyo, and make sure there are as many witnesses as possible."

The shinigami snickers as she takes a red origami bird from her yama's hand, then says "it will be done without delay."

Kyo and company arrive to the Garden of the Sun, and immediately they come across destroyed sunflowers and burned fields, black spots on the ground showing heavy danmaku blasts, and an eerie silence that makes them feel as if they are in a graveyard, rather than a garden.

The chill ambience robs them of their breath as the slowly make their way in further toward Yuka's house, and it's not long before they come across Marisa's green aircraft.

Kyo stares at it for some time before he opens his mouth to comment, but Medicine beats him to it, saying "whoa, what's this? An alien invasion?"

Kyo grinds his teeth, thinking "she totally stole my line, dammit!", but discards his jealousy and says "Marisa must be around here... I hope."

Staring suspiciously, Luna asks "and how do you know that?"

Kyo sweats and stutters nervously, but quickly composes himself and says "well, she asked the kappa for help, and I am sure this has to be one of her inventions."

Luna gasps, as if realizing something, then sweats and chuckles nervously as she says "oh, right, right. I forgot about that... but..."

They all look around the area, then Medicine asks "where's Marisa? Or that crazy spirit girl?"

They continue to look around and inside the small UFO, unaware that a towering shadow looms behind their back, then suddenly, the sweet and ominous voice of Yuka Kazami says "my, my, my~! Another party of demons has come to destroy my garden. Too bad, you won't get the chance, huh?"

Kyo, Luna, Medicine and Su-San's faces turns blue after hearing Yuka's voice, and before long, they find themselves running for their lives as Yuka cackles and shoots yellow beams of energy at them, making small holes on the ground where they impact.

While shooting, Yuka calls "come on little demons, don't run~! It will be very quick, I promise."

Kyo hurriedly asks "what should we DO!"

Luna points in front and shouts "that house!"

In just a few seconds, Medicine, Luna, Su-San and finally, Kyo, enter Yuka's house and close the door behind them.

They can hear when Yuka stops chasing them and says to herself "they escaped again. Geez, Yuka, you need to get your act together. You let 8 of them escape already!"

The small party look at each other, then Kyo asks "eight? Who are the other 5?"

A woman behind them clears her throat, making the party of 3 twitch and turn around with terrorized eyes, thinking Yuka has caught up to them, however the find Marisa, Mima and Elly staring back at them. Elly smiles and waves, then says "welcome to the club."

All three look back in shock, then Luna finally asks "alright, what's going on here!"

Marisa shrugs, and sounding quite annoyed, she says "Mima-sama and I landed here yesterday, then all of a sudden, Yuka starts calling us demons and starts to attack us."

Mima smiles and says "I tried to fight back, and I almost won, but she cheated on me and so we had to run."

Marisa snickers and says "yeah, right. You just weren't paying attention like you should have."

Marisa and Mima press their faces against each other, then Mima grumbles "you try having a rose pushed up your skirt and see how YOU like it!"

Elly nervously raises her hands and says "now, now, come on. Let's not fight now."

From the kitchen table, a girl moans, getting Luna's attention. When she walks in, she finds Kurumi sitting on the table, looking weak and somewhat delusional, mumbling incoherently while swinging her finger in the air and smiling.

Luna points at her and ask "how long since she's had blood?"

Elly rubs her chin for a moment, then says "ever since that magical shockwave hit us. About the same time when Yukarin started calling everyone a demon."

Marisa twitches and thinks "again that thing. Dammit, I never wanted this. I just wanted to help Reimu."

Luna shrugs and says "well, we're going to need her help if we're going to beat miss Yuka, so..."

Luna rummages through her bra, then pulls out the jar with Kyo's blood, and places it on the table in front of the little vampire.

Marisa looks at her own chest in shame and pats herself, while Medicine stares on in wonderment and asks "how'd she do that!"

Kurumi sniffs around and mumbles "blood...?"

When she notices the jar, she hurries to grab hold of it and twists it open, and before long, she drink the entire content without spilling a drop, and with her lips covered in blood, she smiles, looking content and refreshed.

Kyo sighs, then says "well, I guess it wasn't a waste after all."

Curiously, Luna looks around, then asks "wait, wasn't there supposed to be someone else in here?"

There is a loud bang coming from the cabinet in the kitchen, and sounding casual, Marisa says "oh that's right. We got Wriggle here too, ze!"

The cabinet doors burst open and Wriggle falls right down to the floor on her seat, looking a little dazed as she says "whoa, I don't even remember getting in there."

Kyo looks at her, then exclaims "Wriggle, it's been quite a while!"

Wriggle looks back at Kyo with curiosity, then says "weird. I've been around your house often."

Luna smiles, then says "that's right, Kyo. I always give her a lump or two of sugar."

Kyo looks dumbfounded, then says "I see. And, any reason why you're giving her the sugar?"

Wriggle replies "I keep the bugs way from your house for this reasonable payment."

Kyo just stares back a little confused, but decides not to ask any more questions.

At the Myouren temple, Shou, Youmu and Yuyuko walk into the temple when Shou suddenly turns around and says "I'm warning you! If you try to hurt Hijiri, I'll seal you both!"

Yuyuko flaps her hand in front of herself and says "ara, ara~, I already told you, we are here to help. Right Youmu?"

Youmu stands stiff in place, terrorized while staring at a blanket ghost that stands beside her.

Shou looks back casually and says "ah, Nue, where have you been?"

The blanket ghost replies "sorry, I fell asleep on the roof."

Trembling, Youmu points at the ghost and asks "y-y-you are f-f-f-friends with this ghost?"

Shou stares back with confusion, then asks "what are you talking about, miss? That's just Nue."

Yuyuko notices the terror on Youmu's whitened face, then says "Youmu, you are being rude. Say hello to miss Nue."

Youmu closes her eyes, extends a trembling hand, then says "p...pleasure... t-t-to meet you, miss Nue."

Nue casually replies "the pleasure's all mine, little lady."

Youmu slowly opens her eyes, and suddenly sees a large round white ghost with a ghostly headband, one large red eye, and a large tongue sticking out.

Her face turns blue, then she suddenly runs behind Yuyuko, crying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm SORRY! Eee~!"

For a moment, Shou stares stranged at the two ghosts, but suddenly frowns and says "Nue, stop scaring that girl!"

Nue, in her normal human-like form, stares back at Shou, then laughs and says "I'm sorry, but I swear, I wasn't even trying here."

Yuyuko gently taps Youmu's head, then sighs and says "what are we ever going to do with you?"

Youmu slowly lifts her trembling head, then slowly opens her eyes to look at Nue.

In an instant, her trembling stop and her terror is replaced by amazement and wonderment, then she asks "who is this girl? Is this miss Nue?"

Nue smiles and winks, then says "in the flesh."

Youmu stutters, wanting to asks about Nue's appearance moments ago, then Nue says "I can morph into what the person in front of me fears, however, in rare cases, I can't seem to be able to control it. Like just now."

Before the conversation can continue, Shou raises her voice a little while asking "shall we go to lady Hijiri?"

Yuyuko smiles whimsically and says "sure thing. Come on, Youmu. We don't want to disappoint the yama now."

Youmu straightens out and nods, then all 4 girls walk to Byakuren's room, where Nazrin, Minamitsu and Ichirin watch over her floating and sleeping body.

The moment they enter, Yuyuko opens her fan to cover her surprised face, then Youmu comments "whoa. I can't believe that girl can do all this!"

Shou suddenly turns around and shouts "what girl! Who's doing this to lady Hijiri!"

Yuyuko turns around and smacks Youmu on the head, then says "we must watch our tongue!"

Youmu lowers her head apologetically and says "I'm sorry, Yuyu-sama."

Shou asks again "what 'girl' is doing this to Byakuren!"

Yuyuko closes her fan, then says "we promised the yama not to tell yet. Look, we have to free your master now, or it will be too late."

Shou sighs and calms down, then nods. Yuyuko signals Youmu to get close to Byakuren, and just as Youmu gets 3 steps closer, she falls asleep on the floor.

The girls panic, Shou looking frightened at Yuyuko, however the ghost princess continues to smile and says "it's alright, there is no need to worry."

Before Shou can ask what happened, Yuyuko says "she's inside miss Byakuren's mind, freeing her from a powerful seal. You'll see. Before you know it, everything will be just fine again."

Shou stares back at Yuyuko with worry, but closes her eyes and says "a prayer for our friend."

All the girls kneel on the floor, then clap their hands together, closing their eyes and praying in silence.

Meanwhile, Youmu finds herself inside a wide open space, where the black floors look as if trails of fire, go through set channels while making strange shapes on the dark ground.

When she looks ahead, she notices a large mountain made of glass, and inside, the silhouette of a woman who looks just like Byakuren.

Youmu calls "miss Byakuren~! Is that you~! Please, answer me!"

From all around, Byakuren's voice echoes as she desperately says "hello! Who-who's there! Are you here to help me!"

Youmu looks around, unable to tell where the voice is coming from.

Above the clouds of the Dragon's Paradise, Girlie, who holds Ail in her arms, and Spee, who has a slightly frightened look on her face, fly toward an unknown destination.

Though Girlie smiles and pat's the spirit with her hand through the long sleeve, Ail feels unsettled, as an awkward silence courses along with them as they fly.

Ail builds up courage to speak, but Spee beats him to it, and sounding disappointed and frightened, she says "YOU need to remember why you ended up as you are in the FIRST PLACE!"

Girlie playfully says "Ooh~ You're being scolded", then Spee says "Ail, you are being foolishly reckless, again!"

Ail asks "what do you mean 'again'? What's happening! Who were those rude dragons!"

Spee sighs, then says "and you already learned your lesson even. You were already being so careful... then THIS happens. Oh, Ail, please listen to me!"

Ail's flame turns dark blue, signaling his saddened state, then Spee says "please, we are doing everything we can to help you, but if you rush things now, you'll end up in hell! That dragon yama is NOT like the one you know. He takes pleasure in torturing the souls in hell!"

Girlie smiles and nods rapidly, then says "yes, yes! You listen to Spee! You remember the things in your head, then you come back home!"

Spee sighs one more time, then turns her head to look at Ail with a sisterly smile on her, then says "we're going to take you back to the guardian of this paradise. I want you to promise, no more recklessness! Don't come out here again, or that yama will have your soul, you understand!"

Ail turns bright-pink, then manages to nod his flame-like body, even though Girlie holds him tight.

Spee smiles, then she and Girlie stop and slowly float down from the clouds.

Immediately after going through the clouds, Ail can see the vast world of the dragons.

Gigantic forests to the east, mountains of minerals to the north, various bodies of fresh water, including a gigantic lake to the south, and a large salt-water beach to the west, where he can see some dragons floating on the water, roaring with content expressions on their faces.

When he looks directly under them, he sees Kimi and the guardian dragon, waiting for them near the tree-tops, the white and black yin-yang dragon looking up with a relieved look, while Kimi stares at the dragon with a rosy color showing over her dark-green scales on her cheeks.

The guardian dragon smiles and says "you reckless little soul, do you know how worried I was!"

Ail turns dark blue and says "I'm sorry. I just wanted to save that child."

Spee sighs with relief and says "the yama almost judged him, but we managed."

The dragon guardian nods in thanks as he takes Ail from Girlie's hands, then says "you two have done so much for him already. Ail, you owe them your gratitude."

He points the spirit at the two little angels, and while glowing golden, Ail says "thank you very much. And I am very sorry to have put you through this. I promise, I'll do better, you'll see."

Both angels 'aww' at the same time and pat the spirit on the head, making Ail turn pink.

The dragon looks at the spirit, then says "and it seems you remembered a great deal while out here."

Before Ail answers, Spee says "please, take him back to the void, and continue to help as best you can."

The dragon nods, then Spee says "and you, mister Ail! I don't want to see you in such a predicament again, so be more prudent!"

Ail's flam turns pink-orange as he says "s-sorry. Will do."

Kimi snaps out of her trance, then shakes her head and says "whatever. I want to look around, so, see ya."

The guardian dragon grabs her shoulder before she goes away, then says "you be very careful out there, and try not to cause trouble."

Kimi nods, an as soon as the guardian dragon releases her, she flies away under the trees, turning back into her human shape and making sure nobody can see her red face and panicked eyes.

She watches as the two angels and the guardian dragon bow to each other before flying away to their separate destinations and thinks "dammit, that was embarrassing! Ugh, if he touches me again, I'll bite... but... He's too powerful, so maybe just a growl?"

While she thinks this, she covers her cheeks with her hands, shakes her head, then says to herself "get a hold of yourself, Kimi!"

Back at the Garden of the Sun, Yuka kneels beside a bed of crushed flowers, muttering angrily while trying to raise them again.

Kyo stands behind her and stares, keeping as quiet as possible.

Luna and Medicine hide behind a flowerbed in front Yuka, waiting for the right moment to strike, while Elly, Kurumi and Mima slowly fly around and above Yuka.

Unknown to them, Marisa has exited the house and hides herself amongst the towering sunflowers.

Yuka senses something is going on around her, and right after she stands up and turns around, Kyo says "sorry, miss flower youkai, but I'm going to have to beat you to your senses."

Yuka smiles tenderly, yet emanates her frightful energy as usual, and says "the demon speaks. I think the one who needs his senses beaten into place... is YOU! Dual Spark!"

Kyo uses both hands to summon a powerful enough shield and deflect the powerful dual-beam blast, and while Yuka's attention is place on Kyo, Luna and Medicine jump out of hiding, wearing sunglasses.

Luna tosses one of her flash-clips, successfully blinding Yuka, and while she screams obscene words, Medicine sends a blue cloud of poison that chokes her to her knees.

Kyo shouts "alright, time for the finisher!"

He jumps high in the air with his red sword ready to strike down hard, and when he hits Yuka, he feels as though he's hit a mountain instead.

Yuka holds the sword with her bare hands, smiling wickedly as she stares back at Kyo, and in a sweet, yet ominous tone of voice, she says "it's going to take at least 100 of you to take ME down!"

She places the palm of her hand on Kyo's abdomen, then whispers "Master Spark", then sends Kyo flying back as the wide yellow beam spreads from Yuka's own hand, burning off his black undershirt.

Luna calls for Kyo, and right after he falls on his back on the ground, she screams "you witch! I'm going to kill you!"

Luna unsheathes both swords and goes for the quick kill, Medicine and Su-San trailing behind her to assist, but Yuka smiles wickedly and knocks Medicine out with ease, using her flower danmaku.

Luna swings with speed and might, but Yuka dodges with ease, making it look like she's dancing along with Luna's swings.

Elly and Kurumi look at each other with determination in their eyes and nod, then swoop down fast, ignoring Mima, who shouts "you idiots, stick to the plan!"

While Luna continues her assault, Elly and Kurumi aim to team-tackle Yuka, but the both of them hold back for a moment, Elly foolishly saying out loud "m-miss Yukarin, come back!"

In that second, Yuka bows to Luna, lifting her skirt elegantly as she does, then jumps out of the way, just as Elly and Kurumi are an inch away from her, taking Luna by surprise and tacking her hard instead.

While in the air, Yuka follows their blunder with exploding flower danmaku and knocks all three girls out.

Mima growls softly and says to herself "stupid pets! I'm gonna have to improvise!"

Yuka lands next to the three girls, looking a bit surprised at them, then says "my, you demons had a plan, I see. But you failed to calculate my own power against your own."

Mima laughs as she slowly hovers down and says "guess it's up to the great Mima to take you down!"

Yuka's face twists to hateful anger as she glares at the evil spirit, seeing her as a large black demon with two tattered wings and bloody eyes, then says "you are eager to die, aren't you?"

Mima's smile vanishes as she stares back at Yuka, and in a second, danmaku flies from both sides with such speed, volume and power, both are on the ground full of burn marks and messed clothes within seconds.

After groaning in pain for a bit, both girls manage to stand up and stare at each other for a moment.

From the right, a thin blue beam flies straight to Yuka, who opens her parasol and easily reflects the beam back to the source, revealing Marisa, who yelps and jumps out of hiding, holding a blue laser gun on her hands.

Yuka's wicked smirk returns as she summons as much energy as she can to herself, then shouts "DUAL SPARK!"

Yuka points both hands straight at Marisa, and the moment she unleashes her massive beams, Mima jumps in the way, screaming in agonizing pain as the beams burn her ghostly skin and send her flying all the way back to the house.

Marisa calls for her master, but long before she can give chase, Yuka jumps in front of her with a terrorizing look in her glowing red eyes, then softly says "you demons were really out to get me, and you could have succeeded too. Too bad I'm just too strong for the likes of you."

Marisa cowers back as Yuka's shadow looms over her face.

Thinking quickly, and acting accordingly, Marisa pulls one of her bombs from her pockets and lights it up, tossing it in the air and saying "think fast", then running away as fast as she can, while Yuka catches the airborne bomb.

The flower youkai stares at it as the fuse burns out of sight, then asks "what the heck IS this thing?"

The bomb explodes right on Yuka's face, leaving a thick black cloud all around her, however, rage gets the best of her, and with a mighty roar, Yuka jumps out of the smoke cloud and flies after Marisa, getting in front of the feeling witch in a few seconds.

Yuka breathes with effort due to her rage, her eyes glow crimson, her face turning red, and in a frightful tone of voice, she says "you demons have pushed me TOO far! I WAS going to let you all go back home, but you just wouldn't take the HINT! DUAL SPARK!"

Marisa gasps in horror and tries to turn around and run away, but the two wide beams are right in front of her face, accompanied by various blue orbs as well.

Marisa freezes in place and remembers Shikieiki's words "you can use your broom defensively."

Marisa's broom suddenly appears right on Marisa's right hand, and Marisa herself yells out loud "COMET! BLAZING STAR!"

A spell card floats right in front of her face, glowing light blue, then she blazes through the sky, covering herself and her broom in a magical barrier that breaks right through Yuka's vicious attack.

As she passes by the youkai, she manages to fire multi-colored stars to stun Yuka for a moment, then manages to fly far away as fast as she can.

Yuka shakes off the burning smoke that comes from her face, growls in a rage, then turns her beams to the escaping witch, managing to hit Marisa's broom and send her crashing down into the flowerbeds.

Yuka stops her attack and is about to give chase, but she stops when a man says "I don't go down that easily!"

When she turns around, a grey demon, holding a red sword and white shield, and a smaller green demon stand firm and ready to fight, though in reality, it's Kyo and Wriggle.

Wriggle jumps to the air, while Kyo runs straight at Yuka and shouts "Flames of Elegance!"

Kyo thrusts his sword 30 times per second and generates many blue flames that trail randomly toward Yuka, dancing around each other, managing to hit her a few times with the blade's energy and some of the intense blue flames.

Yuka uses her energy to push everything away from her, also managing to blow every single blue fireball to nothing, and while she aims her anger at Kyo, Wriggle says "time to earn that honey pot! Lamp Sign, Firefly Phenomenon."

Fireflies swarm all around Wriggle, then some scatter around and head toward Yuka, while others circle around Wriggle and unleash large curtains of blue orb bullets, managing to momentarily overwhelm the flower youkai.

Yuka is ready to counterattack, but Wriggle herself flies toward her and clings on her face, making Yuka desperately wave her arms and shout "ew, ew! Get it off, get it off!"

Wriggle chuckles and says "now, now, I'm just going to do this."

Wriggle sticks out her long and thin tongue, then licks Yuka's eyes, smacking her lips and saying "mmm~! Taste like honey!"

Yuka panics and screams while running around and shouting "I'M BEING DEVOURED! HELP!"

When she takes a better look, she notices Wriggle, then asks "wait, it's that bug girl? Where's that demon?"

From behind, Yuka feels as though her head has been struck by a large rock with great force, then slowly, she loses her balance and finally falls on the ground unconscious.

Wriggle manages to fly away just before Yuka falls, then says "hey, she was already back to normal."

Kyo calls off his shield, and smiling with embarrassment, he shrugs and says "er, whoops.", then stares at the unconscious youkai and worriedly says "she's NOT gonna be happy about that."

Wriggle chuckles nervously, then says "not one bit."

Meanwhile, at the Myouren temple, Shou and her friends anxiously await for something to happen, while the half-ghost, Youmu, is inside Byakuren's mind.

Inside Byakuren's mind, Youmu comes across a dead end of mountains made entirely of glass.

She cups her hands around her mouth and shouts "is anybody here!"

Again, Byakuren's voice echoes all over, calling back "please, get me out of here *sob*! Please, I don't want to be sealed again!"

Youmu shouts back "but I can't find you! Can you at least tell me something I could use to find you!"

There is no answer this time. Youmu thinks "oh no. She's stopped. Maybe I was too slow!"

From the left, Byakuren bangs on the thick glass that blocks her from reaching Youmu, startling the half ghost as she punches on the glass with despair in her face.

Youmu manages to recover from the shock and shouts "wait, wait! Stop hitting it like that, or you'll hurt yourself!"

Byakuren stops, however the despair in her face remains as her voice echoes all over "please, help me! Get me out of here! That girl sealed me in here! I don't want to be sealed again! Please, HELP!"

Youmu sighs, then says "alright. Just STAY CLOSE this time... but not too close. I'm going to try breaking the wall again."

Byakuren nods, then takes a step away from the crystal wall as Youmu closes her eyes and holds the hilt of the sheathed Roukanken while summoning up some energy.

When she opens her eyes, she moves like a flash, and even though her sword crashes against the crystal various times, Byakuren can't see the blade moving at all, and right after she blinks, she sees Youmu slowly sheathing her sword again.

Byakuren approaches the glass and asks "d-did it work?"

The glass shatters under Byakuren's hands, allowing her to escape her prison, then Youmu smiles and says "yes, I believe it worked."

Byakuren flies out of her prison and hugs Youmu tightly, saying "thank you, thank you, thank you! You don't know how happy I am to be out of there!"

In the world outside her mind, Byakuren's body slowly falls back to her bed and her color slowly returns.

Excitedly, Shou says "Hijiri! She's regained some color!"

Nazrin smirks and says "seems the little half ghost did it."

Nue lets out a half smile, then says "to think she's such a coward."

Yuyuko smacks Nue on the head with her fan, and with a whimsical smile, she says "don't bully my Youmu."

Back inside Byakuren's mind, Youmu and Byakuren fly aimlessly around, hoping to find a way out of there, however, unknown to them, some dark clouds are silently following after them.

Youmu and Byakuren finally spot an exit point, a white orb of swirling energy, standing in the middle of a valley formed by the very crystal mountains that imprisoned Byakuren before.

The girls smile and laugh as they rush toward the exit, but a blue bolt of lightning strikes right in front of them, preventing them from going any further.

Youmu unsheathes both swords and says "it's her!"

Byakuren summons her blue magical rods to her hands and raises them above her head as she opens them widely, revealing her magical scroll, then glares at the ominous laughing clouds and says "I will not let you seal me again!"

Youmu looks back to Byakuren with the corner of her eyes while holding her swords in a defensive manner, then says "I'll distract it while you prepare!"

Byakuren nods, then says "be careful, miss Youmu!"

Youmu nods, then swiftly flies straight at the clouds with her ghost half ready for battle.

Once they are close enough, Youmu unleashes as short range shockwave from her blade that cuts right through a blue lightning bolt that heads her way, and while she slashes the bolt, her ghost half rises above her head and starts showering the clouds with massive blue orbs.

The orbs seem to explode in the center of the clouds, then Youmu gasps and says "so it CAN be hurt!"

She pulls out a spell card and shouts "Asura Sword! Obsession with the Present World!"

Youmu flies high above the dark clouds as orbs of blue and red surround the cloud from left and right, some managing to strike the cloud, just not hard enough.

Youmu raises her Hakurouken above her head, then slices the air underneath her, sending a powerful energy wave that sends a large group of orbs flying straight to the cloud's center, damaging it greatly, and when she sees a blue swirl of energy in the very center of the clouds, she rushes in with both swords at hand, crossing them as she lunges forward, then cuts right through the clouds and the energy, making the woman's voice scream out loud.

Byakuren realizes what Youmu did, and once Youmu is far enough from the clouds, Byakuren gets closer, places her magical rods close together and shouts "St. Nikou's Air Scroll", and as she declares her spell, the spell card materializes on the scroll and makes both the scroll and rods shine brightly.

Byakuren moves around with speed, zigzagging from left to right and up and down, leaving trails of blue beams that shatter into bright danmaku orbs that scatter all around, striking the cloud rather gently, however, Byakuren is not done.

While the danmaku does its job of keeping the consciousness of the cloud busy, Byakuren closes in, her magical rods glowing bright blue, then she raises the rods to touch the cloud, then starts zigzagging all around it, making it scream out loud as the beams of light burn right through the blue energy that makes up the cloud's consciousness.

Finally, Youmu decides to try and cut through it again, however, the crystal mountains shatter and turn to dust, and the clouds suddenly disappear both inside and outside of Byakuren's mind.

Outside, the temple seems to brighten up as the sun rays finally reach the temple itself, while inside Byakuren's mind, the scenery changes to a vast paradise of fauna and flora.

Youmu looks around with a smile and says "the nightmare seems to be over."

Byakuren nods with a tired smile on her face then says "please, let's just get out already."

Youmu smiles and nods, then both girls head straight to the white orb with swirling energy.

Back at the Garden of the Sun, Elly and Kurumi hold tightly on to Yuka as they stand in front of the house, Yuka looking confused at everyone, ignoring the bone-crushing hugs her two underlings keep giving her, despite her coldness toward them.

Kyo stands without an undershirt beside Luna and Medicine, resting his head on his arms behind him while asking "so, are you sure you're ok now?"

Luna rummages through her bra and says "ugh, relax, sweetheart! She said she was fine... a-ha!~", then pulls a neon-pink shirt for Kyo to wear.

Kyo looks at the shirt with disdain, but decides to keep quiet and just put it on.

Medicine yawns, then says "let's go home, you guys. Everything is fine."

Luna smiles and says "I agree."

Kyo bows to Yuka and says "we'll take out leave. Kurumi, Elly. If you need help again, try and contact someone else."

Kyo ignores the shocked expressions on the two youkai, then bows to Marisa, Wriggle and Mima, then says "thanks again for all your help. Marisa, you keep up the good work."

Marisa and Mima look tired, full of burns and their clothes on tatters, but both manage to smile and bow to Kyo, who carries Luna, and along with Medicine, fly away back home.

Marisa turns to Yuka, then approaches her and with a serious look on her face, she says "Yuka, I need your help."

Yuka silently stares back with her usual smile, while Kurumi takes a bite of her right arm and Elly lets go of her left arm.

Since Yuka doesn't answer, Marisa continues "to make a long story short, I did something very stupid, and I need you to use Dual Spark on a gate I created, so I can close it off."

With that smile on her face, Yuka bluntly says "no. Go do it yourself."

Marisa frowns and wants to argue, but Mima hold her shoulder and whispers "don't", then Yuka says "tell you what. Since, unlike what they might say about me, I'm not a bad person. If by the time you are ready to do all this, you still can't do it on your own, you come and get me. For now, my answer remains."

Marisa stares into Yuka's eyes, holding her desire to cry, however, something in Yuka's eyes calms her down, and after Mima lets go of her shoulder, she smiles and nods, then says "I'll hold you to that promise, ze!"

Yuka smiles and nods, then says "I never go back on a promise. After all, I'm not a human."

Marisa, Mima and Wriggle bow to Yuka, and as they turn around to walk to the UFO, Wriggle says "I'm coming too. I want to see where all of this is going!"

Marisa replies "alright, but if a single bug craws up my drawers, I'm going to squish you!"

While Wriggle and Marisa argue about bug-crushing jokes, Elly curiously looks at Yuka, then asks "miss Yuka, what going on? Why did you promise that to the black and white?"

Yuka sighs, then says "a little flower told me a most interesting tale. Let's just leave it at that."

Kurumi exclaims in amazement, then says "ooh, an 'interesting tale'! Will you tell?"

Yuka smiles again, though this smile seems to carry an ominous essence, and as she looks to Kurumi, she says "maybe another time."

The ominous essence vanishes in an instant, and Yuka walks to her little house, stretching her arms in the air while groaning contently.

Farther into the garden, the flower that replaces Ail's original flower, the one with blue and white petals, has grown to the size of a human.

It seems to move on its own for a second, making a jingling sound as it does.

Back at the Myouren temple, Shou, Minamitsu, Nue, Ichirin and Nazrin celebrate the return of Byakuren with a feast dedicated for her and Youmu, who risked herself to free Byakuren from the seal inside her own mind.

The girls celebrate, drink and mingle until nightfall, when Yuyuko approaches Byakuren for a chat.

Yuyuko takes a sip from her sake cup and asks "will you let us stay here until after tomorrow?"

Byakuren lowers her sight, crossing her arms under her chest, then sighs and says "that girl. You're going to have to terminate her, aren't you? She's such a nice girl. I can't believe she'd..."

Yuyuko stares at Byakuren with a whimsical smile on her face, then says "Youmu is simply here to assist. Besides, that girl is not fated to go just yet. Don't worry about her. Worry more about the young magician and her two daughters that have to deal with her."

Byakuren asks "think we should help?"

Yuyuko takes another sip from her sake, then says "oh, no. Let the youngsters have their moment in the spotlight."

Byakuren looks to the star-filled night sky and smiles as she says "I believe you are right."

Both girls turn their heads around when Youmu suddenly screams "KYAAAH~! Yuyuko-sama, HELP!"

Annoyed, Shou says "Nue, stop that already!"

Nue replies "I can't hear you~!"

Youmu runs with a frightened face to the front of the temple, while Nue, who has taken the shape of a one-eyed, long tongued, thick skinned ghost with a set of limbs and a headband, follows after the frightened gardener, saying things like "boo", and "bleh-bleh-bleh, I'm going to eat you~"

The chase comes to an abrupt end just outside the temple itself, when a large golden washtub falls right on top of Nue's head, making a loud clanking sound as it strikes Nue so hard, she turns back to her human form and gets her head buried under the dirt due to the impact.

Youmu turns around with tear-filled eyes and shouts "you are very rude, you mean nue!"

Nue only groans in pain as the bump on her head pulsates.

From inside the temple, Youmu stares toward the gates as Youmu approaches Nue, then says to herself "only I get to tease Youmu like that."

Byakuren can't hear clearly, and stares back at Yuyuko with curiosity and some shock, due to an ominous aura emanating from that smile.

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Kyo, Luna, Spee and Girlie were created by Willie G.R.

Kyo's "Flames of Elegance" spell card was created by Willie G.R.

APR 19 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

**A/N:**

**Geez, again, I wanted to add more stuff, but I think it's packed enough! Uuu~ this is becoming fun. OMG! Rika isn't here? Uuu~ I better fix that for next time. Should be easier since the messes should lessen from now on... maybe. Well anyway, I hope you are enjoying these. And please, don't make fun of Kyo. REAL men wear pink! Still, I don't think I'd wear a neon-pink shirt, unless I am threatened to do so... Well, see you next chapter.**


	15. Chapter 15

Morning at the SDM.

Rika walks out of Sakuya's room with a smile on her while saying "well, you should be up and around very soon, miss Sakuya. Just make sure to rest up, and try not to overexert yourself."

From inside the room, Sakuya softly replies "thank you so much for all your help. I'll call if I need anything."

Rika smiles back and says "please do.", then gently closes the door.

As she walks down the corridor, she sighs contently and says to herself "she should be up and at them in just two days."

She rubs her chin and looks to the ceiling, then curiously says "strange that miss Remilia hasn't visited her while she's awake. Maybe I should get her now... but no, she would just get angry. She does like her sleep."

From behind, Remilia sounds threatening as she asks "what was that? Are you plotting on taking me down, white-blood?"

Rika turns around and finds Koakuma standing in a seductive pose next to Remilia.

The mistress herself wears an extravagant white outfit, meant to intimidate Rika.

Her usual small puffy hat is replaced by a white, oversized triangular hat that's the same width as her body, adorned with a red ribbon that seems to split the hat into 4 segments, and ends tied into a bow to her right, and her light-blue hair is lose, making herself look more fearsome as she smiles down on Rika.

Over her shoulders, she wears a white capelet with red borderlines, a neckerchief over a large red ribbon she ties into a bow right over her abdomen, her dress is white with red borderlines on the bottom of the skirt and short puffy sleeves with a small red ribbon at the border of the sleeves, and finally, she wraps her forearms with a pair of detached sleeves and adorns each wrist with a thin red bracelet that seems to float around her wrists without actually touching them.

Remilia smiles wide, baring her fangs for Rika to see clearly, and notices how the maid seems a little intimidated by her sudden change of appearance, and while feeling high and mighty she says "well, it seems you are slacking off, miss maid. I'm going to have to take some disciplinary action!"

Rika manages to recover from the shock of seeing Remilia in such extravagant clothing, and stands firmly in place while confidently saying "I was just on my way to address the maids, my lady."

Koakuma chuckles, then Remilia smiles and says "taking such a defying tone of voice to address me. I'm going to have to teach you some manners!"

Rika scowls and says "please, forgive my rudeness, my lady Remilia."

Remilia grabs Koakuma and lifts her above her head and says "it's too late for begging! Koakuma, teach her a lesson!"

Before Koakuma can complain, Remilia tosses her like a log straight at Rika's face.

Koakuma screams as she flies straight to Rika, and just before crashing on to her, Rika side-steps in the blink of an eye, letting Koakuma fly past her and crash head-first against a column on the archway behind them.

Concerned, Rika turns around and calls "miss Koakuma, are you alright!"

Koakuma groans, but doesn't answer as her body hangs limp against the column where her head it stuck in.

Rika turns around and says "miss Remilia, that is no way to treat—"

Remilia clenches her teeth and speaks louder than Rika, interrupting her speech while saying herself "look what you made me do! Clean up this mess and FIX that wall."

Rika covers her mouth to keep herself from scolding Remilia, and when the mistress turns her back, she simply bows and says "as you wish, my lady."

Remilia heads back to her room, while Rika tends to Koakuma, gently placing her hand on the little demon's back, making her twitch her wings for a moment, but calming her down by gently saying "it's alright, I'm here. Don't move, so I can get you out of there."

At the Human Village, Kyo and Luna walk out of their house just as the sun rises, each holding a cup of coffee on their hands.

The morning is eerily quiet, thought he sun looks beautiful against the blue morning sky, which takes any suspicions away from their thoughts.

Medicine walks out of the house with Su-San flying just above her shoulder, and after yawning and rubbing her eyes, she smacks her lips and says "good morning, you guys."

Kyo and Luna immediately greet back as Medicine looks to the sky, then looking around with suspicion, she asks "say... don't you think it's a little too quiet? And what's the deal with that glass thingy over there?"

Kyo and Luna both stop drinking from their cups, then look worriedly toward Medicine and Kyo asks "what are you talking about!"

Before Medicine speaks, Renko comes running from behind Kyo's house, desperately calling out to Kyo and Luna.

She finally reaches the porch where Kyo, Luna and Medicine are, then bends down while catching her breath and says "Mary! Mary! We have to save Mary!"

Luna despairs and hurriedly asks "Renko, girl, what's the matter! Calm down!"

Renko raises her body, revealing a large cut on her left shoulder, and blood trailing all over the left side of her face.

Kyo opens his eyes wide, Luna and Medicine gasps in horror at the sight, and Su-San covers her little face with her tiny hands.

Kyo shouts "who the HELL did that!"

Medicine yells "don't shout at her, you idiot!"

Luna throws her coffee cup away and punches both on the head, effectively calming them down, and after taking a deep breath herself, she says "Kyo, Medicine, get me the first aid. Renko, let's go inside."

Renko forcefully pulls her hand away before Luna touches her and desperately says "you don't understand! We have to wake Mary up! We have to save her!"

Dark clouds form just over the village, revealing the large crystal mountain to the north exit, and in the air echoes the malevolent laughter of a woman.

Kyo, Luna and Medicine all look at the clouds as they take a human shape, then Renko says "listen. Yesterday, Mary started suffering from a very sudden headache, so we went to the Eintei doctor for some medicine. After she drank the medicine, she said she felt sleepy and went to sleep. This morning, when I went to wake her up, she-she started attacking me with these blue bolts... and now she's waking around, laughing like that and trapping others inside those glass mountains!"

Kyo gasps and in surprise he asks "what! You mean those clouds and that...?"

Before Kyo can finish his question, a large creature hooded in black, holding a gigantic scythe, with a long dragon snout escaping the hood and thin purple claws for hands, appears right in front of the black clouds as they slowly form a large cloud version of Maribel with blue glowing eyes.

The shinigami of the yama of the beasts opens her left claw and reveals a large red origami bird that flaps its wings as soon as the air touches it, then after a wicked laugh, the hooded shinigami leaves.

The origami bird turns to fire and merges with the cloud, making Maribel scream out loud as her eyes turn red, then there's a thunder and lightning strike and from the flash, Maribel appears in front of Kyo and Luna's house, staring back at them with glowing purple eyes.

Her usual poofy white hat is missing, and instead of her usual purple dress, she wears a blue gown with long white sleeves that reach the ground, even after she raises her hands, and tied around her waist is a single, thin red ribbon, tied into a knot.

Before Kyo and the others can react, Maribel raises her hand, and in an instant, all of them are trapped inside a small crystal mound in suspended animation.

Kyo is able to keep conscious long enough to hear Maribel say in a wicked and twisted grown-up tone of voice "and now, this place belongs to me!"

She cackles as she disappears and turns back into a cloud, then starts covering the entire village up.

Meanwhile, at Alice's house, Shanghai and Hourai burst out of the door and to the sky, quickly followed by Alice, then Shanghai hurriedly says "look, look! The village!"

Alice covers her mouth as she gasps in amazement, watching as the village slowly becomes a bed of crystal spikes covered by a familiar dark cloud.

Hourai flies close to Alice and says "it's time, mama!"

Alice feels a cold chill enter her heart as she looks to the village, then says "come on, girls! Let's get ready before we leave."

Alice, Shanghai and Hourai rush back inside the house, where Alice picks up her spell cards, Shanghai and Hourai arm themselves with tiny spears and shields, then rush back outside, where they bump into Parsee and Yuugi.

They easily knock Parsee down along with them, but Yuugi stays standing with a curious look on her face as she says "ah, look at that. Just like that lazy girl said."

Alice rubs her head as she slowly gets up on her knees and asks "whoa, what happened? Who are you two?"

Alice takes a better look of the towering oni and the green eyed girl sitting up next to her and her girls, then says "you guys are from the underground, aren't you? Parsee Mizuhashi and Yuugi Hoshiguma, right?"

Parsee rubs her head and flicks her ears as she stares back at Alice and says "you know us already just like that! I'm so jealous of you!"

Yuugi helps Alice up, then Parsee, who says "next time, pick ME up first!", then grabs both tiny girls from the ground and says "you must be Alice, the doll maker, magician and master puppeteer, right?"

Alice looks away and says "well, um, yeah, that's me. You may also call me the 7-colored magician."

Yuugi places Hourai on her shoulder and laughs as she says "yup, it's you we're looking for after all! So modest too!", then grabs Alice with her free arm and crushes her with a one-handed hug.

Parsee stares with contempt at them, then says "you never treat me like that!"

Alice suddenly shouts "alright, alright, that's enough! Why are you two here!"

Parsee answer before Yuugi "we came here because the big-breasted, lazy girl with pink hair asked us to help you!"

Yuugi stare curiously at Parsee, then shrugs and adds "we are here to help you deal with the village."

Yuugi points toward the direction of the village, then adds "you wouldn't' believe that girl. She asked us for help before, but she didn't even tell us what she needed help with."

Parsee snickers and says "see, just because she has a big chest doesn't make her perfect!"

Alice stares back at the two girls with suspicion, but she quickly realizes how relaxed Shanghai and Hourai are around Yuugi, and even Parsee, so she sighs as she lifts both hands beside her body and says "fine, fine. You can come with us, but please, try not to get in the way, alright?"

Yuugi flips her thumb up, while Parsee shivers and her eyes glow green as she stares back at Alice, then says "fine, whatever. But why must you be the leader!"

Alice replies in a matter-of-factly tone "because I'm a natural born leader. Right Shanghai, Hourai?"

From Yuugi's shoulder, Shanghai raises her arm and exclaims "yeah!", while Hourai floats around Alice's face, then smiles and says "I love my mama!"

At the SDM's library, Patchouli sits on her desk, looking seemingly uninterested toward the wounded Koakuma on the seat next to her, who has a large gash on her neck, done by a solid board inside the column she got her neck stuck in.

The pain from the wound keeps the little devil from speaking or moving, and all she can do now is move her eyes around and think.

Rika walks toward the desk with a first aid kit on her hands and with a smile she says "phew, those fairy maids are so rowdy, but they sure can do their job... with a little help, of course."

Sounding casual, Patchouli asks "so they fixed the damage?"

Rika smiles widens and says "oh yes. They even prepared the mistress' meal without my help this time."

Patchouli smirks and says "hmm, I see. This should be perfect for my experiment."

Rika opens the first aid kit and asks "what experiment, lady Patchouli?"

Patchouli gets up from the seat, looking as expressionless as ever, then says "I'll be back in a bit."

Rika stares at Patchouli with curiosity and worry, then the magician smiles and says "relax. You won't have to clean anything.", then walks away.

Now Koakuma sits alone and defenseless against Rika, who she believes is going to try and assassinate her now that they are alone.

Fear takes her as Rika slowly gets closer with strange medicines in colors she believe mean poison, sharp-looking metallic items that shine, even though there is no light inside the dark library, and a simple-looking roll of bandages.

Koakuma stares with fear taking over her body, a cold chill making her already numb limbs feel like lead, and when Rika gets closer, she clenches her eyes shut and thinks "no! Lady Patchouli, how could you! All these poisons and holy items. She's not going to seal me! She's going to destroy me! Someone help me!"

She feels how Rika's hands and fingers creep around her neck and starts to cry.

Rika notices this and backs away, asking "oh dear, miss Koakuma, does it hurt that much!"

Koakuma opens her eyes and notices her vision isn't fading, and the pain around her neck has lessened.

She looks to Rika's concerned face and thinks "what? I'm not dead? And what's this? This girl looks genuinely concerned about me. No, this has to be a lie; an illusion. Why would a holy being care about a demon like me?"

Rika's expression changes to that of understanding and caring, and after taking a deep breath, she sighs, tilts her head slightly to the right and says "miss Koakuma, I'm not an assassin of any kind, and I most certainly not here to assassinate you. Why can't you understand that?"

Koakuma's tears suddenly stop as she places all her attention on Rika's eyes and says "this... warm feeling. Demons shouldn't feel this, but... Miss Rika, you..."

Rika approaches Koakuma, and using her apron, she cleans her face from the dried tears and smiles.

She picks up a blue medicine and applies it to a cotton ball she holds with metal forceps, and as she gently cures the wound she says "to a demon like you I must seem like a monster that's come to purify you. It's not my intention, miss Koakuma. I must say, even with your pranks, I feel no ill toward you. In fact, you can say I like that about you."

Rika reaches for the red medicine next and applies it to a clean cotton ball she hold with the same forceps, and while applying the medicine she says "my, this wound was particularly bad, to leave a demon like you in this state. If you were human, you would probably be dead by now."

Rika switches to the bandages, and gently wraps them around Koakuma's neck, cutting off the excess after finishing, and in an instant, Koakuma manages to move her arms and lightly wrap them around Rika's waist.

Rika understands what it means, and while she gently combs Koakuma's hair with her fingers, she softly says "you're welcome, miss Koakuma."

Unnoticed by Rika or Koakuma, Rika's sword turns to its colorful state, and the diamond on the hilt glows pink, then the sword turns back to normal as soon as the glowing stops.

Patchouli watches from behind a bookshelf, thinking "well, it seems she's befriended her. Still, a little angel and a little demon. Perhaps I could convince miss Rika to stay here for good. This would prove useful for my experiments."

At the entrance to the Human Village, Alice, Shanghai, Hourai, Yuugi and Parsee all look around for a way inside the village.

It looks as though it's going to rain, however, only thunder and lightning fall from the ominous clouds on the sky, and if any one of them tries to get too close to the crystals covering the entrance, a thick curtain of blue lighting strikes hard and pushes the would-be intruder away.

Alice drops on her seat to the ground and sighs, then looks at the sky and asks "any idea how to get in there?"

Yuugi is about to suggest she throws them all over the mountains, but before she can mouth her suggestion, Shikieiki's voice comes from behind them loud and clear as she says "perhaps we can assist you!"

Alice springs to her feet, while Shanghai and Hourai position themselves beside her, and Parsee and Yuugi lean against a tree, Yuugi smiling and saying "well, it's the yama herself. This must be big."

Alice approaches Shikieiki and asks "were we too late?"

Shikieiki stares seriously back at the group and says "I'm afraid there's been some outside interference, so Komachi and I will be taking care of that, while you take the girl down."

Parsee's eyes glow green as she stares at Komachi, but sounding quite casual she asks "and how are we supposed to get in there in the first place?"

Shikieiki approaches Alice, then turns her attention to Hourai, and says "she will sing."

Hourai blushes, while everyone else, except Parsee, look with surprise at the embarrassed little girl.

Hourai covers her red cheeks with her hands and says "oh, but that's so embarrassing."

Alice looks confused toward Shikieiki, who continues to smile as she says "but you want to help your mother with her task, right? You just have to sing, and you'll be helping her a lot!"

Hourai gasps and exclaims "yes, I want to help mama!", then quickly flies toward the village entrance, followed by Alice and Shanghai, while Yuugi, Parsee, Komachi and Shikieiki watch from a little farther behind.

Hourai feels a bit nervous, all her friends, her sister and her mother watching her, but she takes a deep, calming breath, then lets her voice lose with a beautiful song, making Parsee's eyes glow green, twice as bright as usual, and Mystia herself pops her head from behind a tree and clenches her fists with envy.

When Hourai finishes singing, the clouds disperse and the crystal mountain blocking the entrance turns to dust.

Alice stares at Hourai with great surprise, making Hourai blush even more, saying "d-don't look at me like that, mama."

Shanghai asks "whoa! Since when could you do THAT!"

Shikieiki loudly says "cut the chatter and move. It's going to close up again!"

Yuugi carries Parsee with one hand as Parsee stares at Hourai with great envy, and runs after Komachi and Shikieiki, who follow after Alice, and her two girls.

As soon as they enter, the crystal mountain reforms and the dark clouds take over their abandoned post.

Alice grabs Hourai and gives her a big kiss on the cheek, saying "that's my little girl!"

Shanghai grabs Hourai and give her a big hug and says "sis has talent! We should get a stage!"

Yuugi smiles and says "maybe we can have her as an opening act for a big music festival!"

Parsee stares with contempt while twitching her ears and whispering "such a beautiful voice. It just so unfair."

Hourai lowers her head and blushes in embarrassment, bashfully saying "um, um... th-thanks."

Alice smiles and says "well, that's enough of that. We have to find Maribel and wake her up."

When Alice looks back, she realizes Shikieiki and Komachi are gone.

Shanghai looks around and says "they are gone, mama."

Alice sighs and calmly looks around and says "let's just focus on our own task."

Yuugi winks, flips her thump up and says "well said, boss."

At the Moriya Shrine, Budou convinces Koishi to have a friendly battle with her, while Ail and Lily watch from the shrine's roof, Ail sitting like a dog, while Lily sits on his shoulders, cheering "go Budou! Go Koishi! It's spring!"

After declaring spring, danmaku flies all around her, striking Ail and herself with a few blasts, but neither one seems to be bothered by that.

Up above the shrine, Koishi smirks and says "remember, if I win, you're switching clothes with me!"

Budou smirks back with a confident look and replies "and if I win, you're going to 'convince' mama Sanny into making me that...", she starts to drool as she says "delicious, squished grapes and cherry paste pie~! Yum~!"

After slurping and smacking her lips, she and Koishi ready for battle, and the moment Lily says "GO~!", Budou zips past Koishi, leaving a trail of blue lasers behind her.

Koishi smiles confidently, then skillfully dodges up, down, left, then right, then turns around to face Budou, failing to avoid two lasers coming from above, and getting hit on the head and shoulder.

Budou giggles and says "two hits already."

Koishi flaps her hat in the air to prevent it from burning, then smiles confidently while staring at Budou, then starts shooting a curtain of heart-shaped bullets that surround Budou before she can even move away.

The little fruit bat focuses, and dodges all the groups of slow-moving hearts by moving slowly and steady.

She's in the clear and gets confident, making an abrupt movement to the right and getting blasted on the belly by the heart right in front of her.

Koishi holds her sides as she laughs heartily, and after recovering she says "now that's a new way of losing!"

Budou flaps her hands close to her belly, relieving the stinging sensation of the blast, then growls and glares at Koishi and says "I haven't lost yet!"

Koishi knows what's coming, so she readies herself defensively and says "come and get me!"

For a moment, they just stare at each other, but in an instant, they lunge toward each other, danmaku trailing behind each.

They are mere inches away from colliding, but neither is backing down, and from the front of the shrine, Sanae hears their screams after various explosions, and sounding annoyed and tired, she shouts "Koishi~! Budou~! Don't make a hole on the roof again!"

From her left, Kanako comments "she used to be so quiet and reserved."

Sanae sighs, then a sad tune, like one from a music box starts to play.

Kanako's face turns blue, her eyes expand, her pupils shrink, and she tries to turn around and run away as soon as possible, but Sanae already has a good grip on her shoulder.

She grabs the goddess' arm and pulls it back with force while saying "she's had to grow up so much, and all on her own. Feeling she's lost so much."

Sanae presses Kanako's back against herself, then suddenly squeezes her abdomen with both hands, sighs, then says "I know she loves me, but I can never fill that void Ail and Phredia's sudden departure left inside of her. Oh, lady Yasaka, why are these things happening?"

Kanako lies on her stomach, while Sanae sits on her back, crosses the goddess' legs, then pulls them upward, making the goddess cry out in pain.

Sanae releases her legs, goes for her chin, then starts pulling backward while saying "he looked so scared when you broke his arm. He wouldn't even let me get close."

Kanako feels relief when Sanae releases her and gets off her, however the sad little tune continues, and to her dismay, Sanae lifts her up above her head and spins in place, angrily saying "all because I, a human god, got filled with doubts!"

Sanae stops spinning and tosses Kanako on to the ground, making a loud cracking sound as her face lands on the stone walkway, cracking the floor itself.

Sanae sighs, dusts her hands and says "but it's not your fault... You just thought you were watching out for me in the end."

The tune stops playing, and Kanako can only hear how her own body screams out in pain, groaning softly while trying to say something to Sanae.

The wind priestess snaps out of her thoughts and looks at Kanako, shrieks, then exclaims "lady Kanako, what happened to you! ... Lady Kanako!"

Inside the Human Village, all the houses have been replaced by mountains made of glass, all in different shapes and sizes, all holding within them the villagers themselves, frozen in place, some with a disturbing look of terror in their eyes.

Shanghai and Hourai tremble as they hold on to Alice's neck, trying their best to bury their faces behind Alice's hair, while Alice continues walking forward, hoping to find Maribel sooner than later, however, the more they walk, the longer their path gets.

Yuugi, who is looking around quite casually, says "we've been walking in circles. Look over there. It's the first humans we found trapped."

Parsee looks to the sky and says "ugh, we fell under the spell. Why did I fall under such a pathetic spell!"

Alice stops, making the others stop as well, then gently grabs Hourai, and while placing her in front of herself and looking into her eyes, she says "sing! Hourai, you need to sing."

Hourai blushes as she slowly nods, then flies a few feet away from Alice and immediately starts to sing a beautiful song, using higher notes than the song before. Her voice echoes all over the village, creating a ripple in the air as the power in her song clashes against the dark magic in the air, and after the ripples get violent, there is a cracking sound, like that of a cracking egg, then Alice can see as far as Keine's school.

Yuugi and Parsee are about to follow Alice, but the magician turns around and says "Yuugi, Parsee. You need to free the people over the school. Think you can do that?"

Yuugi salutes Alice and smiles while saying "on it, boss!"

Parsee bites down on her scarf and says "why is she giving orders like that? What, just because she has sexy light-green eyes? I'm so jealous!"

Yuugi continues to smile as she grabs hold of Parsee, and rushes away toward the school.

Alice looks towards the direction to Kyo's house, however, she can't see father ahead due to the dark magic spell.

She looks to Shanghai and Hourai and says "I'm going to need both your help."

Shanghai raises her lance and says "mama can always count on me!"

Hourai continues to blush and says "anything for mama."

Alice smiles as she walks by, grabs Hourai, then places her on her shoulder as they continue their way.

Outside the village exit closest to Kyo's house, Youmu, Byakuren, Nue and Yuyuko stand by, preparing a powerful spell to break through the crystal mountain blocking the entrance.

Yuyuko and Byakuren stand inside a large pink magical circle that turns gradient purple and pink when Byakuren opens her scroll and begins to chant.

Yuyuko breaks her concentration for a moment, then addresses to Youmu with a serious tone of voice as she says "Youmu, Nue, remember that you are there to assist. Do not interfere."

Youmu and Nue nod at the same time, then Yuyuko says "get ready. Once we open that up, it'll close back up quickly."

Youmu grabs Nue by her waist and prepares to dash at Yuyuko's signal.

Yuyuko closes her eyes to concentrate, then suddenly Byakuren raises her voice and a gradient pink and purple beam trails from the floor toward the crystal mountain, and the second it crashes against it, Yuyuko shouts "NOW!"

Youmu sprints with Nue on her arms, and in just 2 seconds, she's inside the village.

The glass regenerates itself, and Byakuren and Yuyuko watch with a little worry in their eyes as strange red clouds form above the village's center.

Meanwhile, inside the village, Parsee fills the glass on the crystal mountains with her jealousy energy, making the ones trapped inside jealous of them for being free, then Yuugi punches the glass, and with the help of the villagers' will to break free, the mountains crumble to nothing, then the villagers run free toward the school, where Keine uses ever ounce of power and concentration in her to keep the school safe.

Parsee watches with contempt as the villagers run safely into the school and says "it's so unfair! I want to go there too!"

Yuugi punches another one of the mountains, freeing 5 more villagers, and says "not until after we are done helping here."

Red clouds form right above them, and a black bolt of lightning strikes between the two girls, sending them flying in separate directions.

In the center of the lightning strike stands a giant figure hooded in black, holding a large scythe on its purple claws, and even though the weapon is twice as large, the figure raises it without effort and aims to strike the school.

Yuugi shouts "you coward! Pick on someone your own size!"

The giant figure stops, then turns its hooded face to Yuugi and mockingly asks "you mean, someone like you!"

From behind, Shikieiki's voice says "no! Someone like me!"

The hooded figure turns around to face Shikieiki and Komachi, and in a commanding tone, Shikieiki says "you are not in your world. Either take a proper form, or be sent back to your own world by force."

The hooded figure grows softly, then starts to glow and shrink, and when the glowing stops, a woman with long purple hair and red eyes reveals herself from under the black hood.

Parsee's eyes glow intensely when she takes a look at the torso of the woman, realizing she also has an ample bosom, like Komachi's.

She bites down on her thumb, her face turning red with rage, then through her teeth she says "that is just so damned unfair! She thinks she better than me, doesn't she! Why are those shinigami so big! Stupid meat bags!"

The dragon shinigami approaches Shikieiki, then rests her large scythe on the ground, and with a smirk on her face she says "I am here to inform you that a certain human from this world interfered with the fate of one from our own world."

Shikieiki raises her voice and asks "what did you do!", but the dragon shinigami ignores her and continues "judgment was spared, but if he ever tries something like that again, my lord WILL pass his judgment on him!"

Shikieiki loudly asks "where's the report, then!"

The shinigami half-smiles and says "it's inside the mistress of this LOVELY crystal graveyard."

Shikieiki loses her patience and readies herself to attack, but Komachi holds her shoulder and says "you let me handle this, Eiki-sama. You go and help that girl."

Shikieiki nods, then points at Yuugi and Parsee, and without saying another word, all three fly toward Kyo's house.

Komachi walks around the dragon shinigami, smiling as she says "now you gone and done it. Upsetting Shikieiki-sama like that. Now I'll have to teach you some proper manners."

The dragon shinigami walks around, keeping away from Komachi while she smiles and says "and you plan to teach me said manners with such a weak scythe like yours? That edge only tells me how weak you really are. You don't even take your job seriously, do you?"

Komachi stops and smirks, holding her scythe defensively as she says "sure, let's go with that."

The dragon shinigami smiles back, then quickly rushes straight toward Komachi.

On the other side of the village, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai find themselves struggling to keep the dark magic away.

Even with Hourai's magical songs, the darkness keeps getting thicker and harder to deal with.

Hourai runs out of breath and falls to the ground, though Alice manages to catch her in time, then says "it's alright. You rest now."

Shanghai growl in anger and shouts "stupid dark magic! Take THAT!"

She raises her little lance and manages to merge her magic with it, then cuts a large opening with a small swing.

Amazed, Shanghai asks "whoa. Did I do that!"

Alice shouts "it's her! Come on!"

She grabs hold of Shanghai and Hourai and runs straight toward Maribel, who sits in front of Kyo's house, on a throne made from the same glass as the mountains around the village.

When Alice and the girls clear the thick dark magic, Maribel, with a sinister adult voice says "welcome, miss 7-colored magician. Have you come to entertain me?"

Alice takes a few breathes, then shouts "Maribel, you have to wake up!"

Shanghai adds "if you wake up, we can help you properly."

Hourai adds "it's morning. You shouldn't be sleeping!"

Maribel smiles disturbingly wicked as her eyes glow crystal blue, and in a flash Alice finds her legs and half her torso trapped inside the same crystal that surrounds the village.

Shanghai and Hourai cry, calling out to Alice, but Alice says "be brave! Shanghai, protect your sister! Hourai, SING!"

Shanghai gets in between Hourai and Maribel, while Hourai nervously looks around, claps her hands together, then starts to sing angelically, the waves of her magical song making Maribel cover her ears and groan while still sitting on her throne.

The spell on Maribel is about to break, but Alice's screams of pain distract both little girls, stopping before being able to defeat Maribel.

Shanghai asks "mama, what's wrong!"

Hourai shouts "MAMA! Someone save mama!"

Alice's legs and half of torso slowly and painfully turn into glass, making Alice cry with empty eyes as she tries to fight the pain, breathing through her mouth while trying to pull herself free, feeling as though the inside of her body is being pierced by needles and knives.

Shanghai readies her lance and lunges straight at Maribel, aiming for her heart, while shouting "you won't hurt mama!"

Maribel quickly flies out of her throne at the last moment, letting Shanghai crash on to the throne and breaking it to pieces on impact, then points her arm at the tiny girl while preparing a blue bolt of lightning on her hand.

Alice desperately calls for Shanghai, and before Maribel releases her attack, Youmu comes from the other side of the battlefield, cutting through the dark magic with ease, then Nue flies just above Maribel and unleashes massive red orbs, all falling scattered, confusing Maribel and getting herself hit countless times.

Maribel screams enraged, then expands her hands and fingers and unleashes and attack of blue blots and black spikes, striking Youmu and Nue, knocking them out after a while.

Maribel turns around to look at Alice, then smiles and says "now, to finish my lovely sculpture."

She points her hands at Alice, her eyes glow crystal blue, then Alice continues to scream in pain as the rest of her body gets turned into glass.

Shanghai gets back up, just as Hourai starts shooting her danmaku at Maribel, and joins in with her sister, however Maribel deflects all the shots with ease using her own magic and continues to torture Alice, while turning her to glass.

From behind, Youmu shouts "Life-Cutting Sword, Meditation Slash!"

Youmu strikes Maribel hard on the side with a sword made of green light, knocking her to the ground and saving Alice from fully becoming a crystal sculpture.

From behind Alice, Shikieiki jumps out of the dark magic, accompanied by Yuugi and Parsee, then immediately places a hand on Alice's crystallized shoulder, turning her back to normal in a few seconds, then says "sorry I'm late. It seems you'll be needing my help after all."

After taking enough deep breaths, Alice asks "how do we stop her?"

Maribel gets off the ground and flies straight to Youmu, tackling her against Kyo's crystallized house and knocking her out, then turns to face Yuugi and Hourai, who stand defensively in front of Shikieiki, Alice and Shanghai.

Shikieiki shouts "I'll remove the curse. The moment I do, you hit her will all you got, understand!"

Alice nods, then Shikieiki joins Yuugi and Hourai, who are keeping Maribel entertained with hit-and-run tactics.

Maribel manages to grab Yuugi by surprise, then tosses her straight to Hourai.

Yuugi manages to embrace Hourai so as not to hurt her when they land on the ground, but in doing so she gets struck by a small glass stone Maribel summons just as they slide on the ground, leaving the oni in a daze.

Shikieiki flies in place, staring at Maribel for a moment, thinking "it should be in her chest, or her head..."

Maribel unleashes a hell of lightning bolts on to Shikieiki, who continues to stare, seemingly unaffected by Maribel's attack.

Shikieiki suddenly smiles and exclaims "ah-ha! Got it!", spotting the red origami bird inside Maribel's neck.

She points her sword at Maribel, making her stop her attack completely, then shifts her hand into a ghostly state, then removes the origami bird.

The moment she does, Maribel slowly descends, and while she does, Shikieiki shouts "WAKE HER UP, NOW!"

Hourai stands on Yuugi's shoulder and begins to sing, while Shanghai draws a star with the magic in her lance, then sends it straight at Maribel.

Maribel holds her head, groaning as if in pain, then Shanghai's magical star strikes her on the side, sending her to the ground, where Nue unleashes various fake seals that effectively keeps her on the ground.

Alice rushes close to Maribel, raises a spell card, then shouts "Magic Sign, Artful Sacrifice!"

Alice tosses three dolls on to Maribel, all exploding hard upon impact, managing to burn off Nue's seals, and when the smoke clears, Maribel lies on the ground, seemingly knocked out.

Alice gasps and asks "oh no, did we kill her?"

Maribel suddenly wakes up, unleashing a powerful energy surge that sends everyone flying back with great force, even managing to make the yama flinch for a moment.

Maribel laughs as she gets back up on her feet, looking a Shikieiki and saying "you tried... but they weren't strong enough. I have great power within me, even if you did take out that boost."

Shikieiki closes her eyes and says "then I'm sorry, miss Maribel, but you give me no other choice. I will have to..."

From below Shikieiki, Parsee shouts "I can't take it anymore! Why do you have such great power, huh! You think you're so great, don't you! I'm so jealous!"

Maribel turns her attention to Parsee, looking at her with confusion, then says "who cares if you're jealous! I'm still better than you!"

Parsee growls while clenching her teeth, then unleashes all her stored jealousy on to Maribel and shouts "now let's see how you like THAT!"

Maribel closes her eyes for a moment, seemingly unaffected by Parsee's jealousy, but suddenly opens her eyes, looks at Parsee with contempt, then says "oh yeah! Well I'm jealous of how COOL your clothes look!"

Parsee immediately replies "well I'm jealous of your cute face!"

Maribel quickly replies "and I'm jealous of how perky your breasts are!"

Parsee gasps in shock, then shouts "and I am SO JELOUS that you are actually jealous of me!"

Maribel replies "well I'm jealous of you green eyes and your cute pointy ears!"

Parsee's eyes glow green, but before she can speak, Maribel says "and you know what! I'm jealous of how GREAT you think you all are, all looking at me with your waking eyes! RAH! I wanna wake up!"

By now, everyone is standing on their feet, looking strangely toward the debating girls, then Maribel turns around with glowing blue eyes, and points at Hourai and says "YOU THERE! SING!"

Hourai stares with confusion back at Alice, so Alice approaches the little girl, grabs her in her arms, then gets close to Maribel and whispers "go ahead, Hourai. Sing for miss Maribel."

Hourai looks up to Alice's face, then back at Maribel's eyes, takes a deep breath, then sings.

At first, Maribel's eyes start to twitch, and it appears as though she's going to attack again, however she drops to her knees, holds on to her head, then glows with a blue light, while Hourai continues to sing.

Shikieiki smiles, certain that the incident is finally solved, so she takes the chance and flies away to meet with Komachi.

Maribel finally stops glowing, revealing her usual self, with her purple dress and poofy white hat on her curvy blond hair.

Hourai stops singing as Maribel looks around with confusion, then asks "whe-where am I?"

All the crystal mountains turn to dust, the dark magic vanishes, and the dark clouds disperse to reveal a beautiful sunny day.

Yuugi suddenly cheers and exclaims "Parsee, you did it!"

Parsee blushes while staring back at Yuugi with jealous green eyes, and when Yuugi grabs her to give her a hug, she manages to ask "then why is she getting all the attention! Aren't I the heroine or something!"

Yuugi rubs her head and says "ah, don't you ever change, you jealous bridge princess, you!"

In front of Keine's school, Komachi and the dragon shinigami continue their battle.

Komachi twirls away from the dragon's scythe, then kicks the back of the dragon's head with a smile, then back-flips away, does a backward star, then stands defensively.

Although the dragon is winded, full of cuts, bruises, and her black hooded robe is in tatters, Komachi looks fresh, and ready for more.

She smiles to the dragon and asks "are you sure you want to continue?"

The dragon shinigami stands proudly, raising the scythe's blade just above her head, and says "what a disgrace! To be so humiliated by a WEAK shinigami that doesn't even do her job right! Even her own weapon shows her lethargy. How is it even possible that I am losing to YOU!"

Komachi holds her scythe defensively while she smiles and says "I already told you. You upset Eiki-sama, and I intend to teach you some manners!"

When she finishes her sentence, the crystal mountains turn to dust, the dark magic around them vanishes, and the dark cloud disappear.

Komachi stands straight and smiles, then says "look at that. Even with your interference, they managed to wake that poor girl up."

The dragon shinigami growls with rage, then rushes straight toward Komachi with her weapon raised.

At the last moment, Komachi flips out of the way of the weapon, waits for the second attack, a slash to the face, to bend backward to avoid being hit, then she lift her leg, kicks the dragon under her chin, back-flips on to her two feet, flips and strikes the dragon on the ribs with the blunt end of her scythe, and before the dragon can get up from the ground, Komachi has her blade on the dragon's throat.

She smiles wide to the fallen shinigami and says "once Shiki-sama gets here, you can apologize properly."

From behind, Shikieiki says "that won't be necessary."

Komachi flies away toward Shikieiki's voice, then says "well, at least I taught her about manners!"

The dragon shinigami manages to stand up, using her scythe as support, then glares toward Shikieiki and Komachi.

Shikieiki says "I got the report, thank you very much. And for all the trouble you caused, I believe you got just punishment. However, if you think I'll let you off that easy, you are very mistaken. You know the rules, yet you clearly broke them, all out of spite towards me. So I'll be sending you back home with a little something for you to remember me by, and for your boss to never forget HIS place!"

The dragon shinigami trembles as Shikieiki's shadow gets closer to her, feeling great fear, uncertain of what kind of punishment the yama of paradise has in store for her.

At the void between the two paradises, Ail and the guardian dragon are having a conversation about Ail's recently recovered memories.

The dragon guardian, in his humanoid dragon shape, looks at Ail and asks "so you actually had a second battle with Remilia?"

Ail, in his humanoid form, sitting with his legs crossed, nods and says "well, I believed she let me win the first time, so in order to restore her pride and my own, I challenged her a second time. I must say, I am glad Nitori returned my boots before that, or I would have lost."

The dragon laughs along with Ail, then sounding curious, he asks "and what about that celestial you were talking to me about? The one you and Maribel had to subdue?"

Ail chuckles and says "oh, right. That. That happened long before I even went into Makai, but that's the first time I met miss Tenshi... though."

Curiously, the dragon asks "yes, what is it?"

Ail laughs, then says "well, she was possessed by the same red spirit that had possessed me before, and while in that state, she wrote her name on a few walls. I swear, I though her name was actually Tenko Hinanai."

The dragon stares at Ail for a moment, then suddenly starts to laugh heartily, asking "Ten-Tenko Hinanai! HAHA! Bwahaha! Now THAT is a strange name!"

Ail laughs as well, then says "she got mad when I called her Tenko, but really, I thought that's how it was spelled... HAHAHA Tenko Hinanai."

Both Ail and the dragon continue to laugh heartily at the thought of the name.

Up on heaven, Tenshi and Iku are having a casual conversation, when Tenshi suddenly twitches, then shouts "s-... Someone is calling me TENKO~~! I am Tenshi, TENSHI~!"

Iku stares back at Tenshi with curiosity, then casually says "so... your Tenko senses are tingling."

Iku covers her mouth while letting out a weak laugh, and Tenshi raises her arms in order to attack her, however a large golden washtub falls right on her head, knocking her down with a loud clang.

Iku stares down at Tenshi with concern, then asks "miss Tenshi, are you alright?"

Tenshi manages to raise a trembling arm with a thumbs up, then another washtub falls on her head, making her groan and pass out right where she lies.

Iku shrugs, continues walking, then says "must be divine intervention."

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Kyo, Budou and Luna were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

APR 22 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

**A/N:**

**Uuu~ that was fun! Especially the end. Gosh, I love messing with those goddesses, but that's because I have faith in them and their ability to survive Sanae's depression. I wanted to add more things here too, but it's ok because I can easily put them all on the next chapter. I must say that is was fun adding Remilia's "Curiosities of Lotus Asia" outfit to my fic. It should prove fun to use it more often. Well, hope you enjoyed, and see you next chapter, if the spirits will allow it.**


	16. Chapter 16

At the SDM, while the incident at the village is being resolved, Patchouli sneaks into the kitchen, eager to try her experiment on Remilia's food.

While she applies a suspicious black powder, looking as casual and uninterested as ever, Patchouli is approached by one of the fairy maids who asks "lady Patchouli, what is that?"

Patchouli casually says "it's nothing, really. Just something for Remi to try out."

Patchouli places the silver cover on the serving tray and says "you may take this now."

The fairy maid smiles, bows, and after a quick giggle, she takes the tray away on to an elegant push-cart.

At the dining room, Remilia, still wearing her extravagant clothes, impatiently awaits for her meal along with Flandre.

Remilia lightly punches the table and says "ugh, where's our MEAL?! That white-blooded maid better not be trying anything!"

Flandre sighs and sadly says "onee-sama, how long are you going to pick on that girl. I already told you, she's very nice. She doesn't want to—"

Before she can finish, the fairy maid enter the room, happily humming as she pushes the cart next to the table.

Remilia angrily asks "finally! Where's the chief maid!? Wasn't she supposed to cook!?"

The fairy maid smiles and says "we made this meal for miss Remilia and miss Flandre, while miss Rika cures miss Koakuma."

Flandre's eyes spin in places and moans "uuu~ so many misses."

Remilia ignores Flandre and stares with disdain at the meal the fairy maids made.

Flandre immediately recovers from her daze and begins to devour her meal, contently squealing as she enjoys.

Remilia stares at Flandre and thinks "well, seems it's good enough. Fine, I'll try it too."

Flandre notices Remilia staring at her, and with concern and a face full of bits of food she asks "what is it, onee-sama?"

Remilia picks up her fork and calmly says "nothing. Err, just enjoy your meal."

Flandre shrugs and continues her meal, while Remilia hesitantly sinks her fork into the mashed meat with blood sauce, then slowly places the food into her mouth.

At first, she clenches here eyes shut, thinking the meal will be horrible, however, after chewing a second time, she realizes the meal tastes divine and lets out a loud, content hum, immediately scooping a second portion.

For a while, Remilia and Flandre continue to enjoy their meals, Flandre finishing before Remilia, letting out a small burp while rubbing her belly.

Shortly after, Remilia pushes her plate away, still with some food in it, and with a content and satisfied look on her face, she says "oh, that was divine! So tasty. As if Sakuya herself made the meal!"

Patchouli watches in secret from behind the door, anxiety filling her face as she thinks "nothing's happening. This was a total waste of time and materials after all."

Remilia suddenly gasps, then Patchouli smiles and thinks "oh, here it comes."

Flandre looks at Remilia with concern while cleaning her face with a napkin, and asks "onee-sama, what's wrong?"

Remilia's eyes expand, her iris grow, her pupils shrink, and very suddenly, Remilia jumps off her seat, letting her hat drop to the ground, and starts flying in circles in the air above the table, squealing and screaming with excitement, like a child who's just been given the gift of her dreams.

At first, Flandre stares at her sister with great concern, but she suddenly joins in, squealing and screaming with excitement, flapping her wings rapidly while flying above the dinner table.

Patchouli watches with outmost attention and says to herself "that's odd. I didn't put any on Flandre's plate."

For a while, she watches as the two vampires fly around, squealing and screaming excitedly, then decides to go back to the library.

Once inside, she finds Rika accommodating Koakuma on a small bed and asks "well, what do we have here? Where did this come from?"

Rika smiles sheepishly and says "she needed somewhere to rest, and I didn't want to move her too much, so I made her a small bed here. She should be fine after resting."

Patchouli shrugs, then sits in front of her desk.

Curiously, Rika approaches Patchouli and asks "and how was the experiment?"

Patchouli almost lets out a smile after Rika asks, and manages to calmly says "it certainly was interesting."

She looks into her book, called "Modern Medicine" and says "it seems powdered laxative has different effects on vampires than it does on humans."

Rika opens her mouth wide, her eyes hide under shadow and her wings involuntarily flap very rapidly, then she exclaims "you gave laxative to miss Remilia!?"

Patchouli keeps her calm face as she nods, then Rika darts out of the room, shouting "FAIRY MAIDS ASSEMBLE! Emergency maneuver #53! Move, move!!"

Patchouli sighs, burying her face into her book once more, then Rika turns around, grabs her by the shoulder, and as she pulls her with her, she exclaims "I'll need your help!"

All Patchouli can do now is let out a quick "mukyu-" as Rika pulls her away from her desk.

-

Meanwhile, at the Moriya Shrine, Suwako lifts the stone under which Hatate is trapped, revealing various charms underneath it that prevent the tengu from flying away.

She tosses a few apples and a sweet potato and says "here. Now you can't say we were mean to you."

Hatate looks up and shouts "OH YEAH!? Well how about letting me OUT!?"

Suwako clicks her tongue and waves her finger, then says "no way. You'll go blab about us to Reimu. We're not letting you out until you swear to us you won't say a word."

Hatate angrily shakes her fist in the air and shouts "BITE ME~!"

Suwako shrugs and lets go of the stone, sealing the crow tengu once more, then says to herself "you'd think she would be a little more grateful we freed her form that tiny box."

When she looks in front of herself, she finds Ail staring at her with a blank smile.

She gets a little nervous and say "err, you won't talk, right?" Ail blinks twice, then sniffs around Suwako's feet.

The goddess sighs in relief and says "thank goodness he's subconscious. Ugh, I can imagine it now, giving me a lecture, and telling me about what's right and..."

Suwako realizes Ail is sitting on her shoulders, looking toward Sanae and Kanako, while pointing at Budou and Koishi.

Budou wears Koishi's clothes, While Koishi wears Budou's, and both seem to stare at Sanae, while hiding behind some bushes. Budou whispers "remember, it has to be squished grapes with cherry paste, got it?"

Koishi smiles and says "watch and learn, my friend."

She focuses her sight on Sanae, who is trying to help Kanako back on her feet, using her powers over the subconscious to force Sanae into baking that pie Budou wants so badly.

At first, Sanae ignores her thoughts and concentrates on helping the moaning goddess back to her feet.

Kanako is almost to her knees when Sanae gasps and lets her go, letting her fall on her face to the ground once more, then flies away in a hurry, saying "I want to bake a pie for Budou!! Lady Yasaka, you are fine, right? Please get up peel some grapes for me. Thanks!"

Kanako groans as she angrily gets back up and manages to sit on her knees.

She looks up to the sky, then says to herself "uu- I better do as she says."

The goddess struggles to get up, her legs feeling like gelatin, pain coursing through her entire body, but even so, the fear of Sanae getting her again gives her the strength she needs to get up and peel those grapes.

From behind the bushes, Koishi and Budou giggle, celebrating their victory, while from farther away, Suwako and Ail, who is still on her shoulder, watch and chuckle.

Suwako looks to the sky toward where Sanae left to, and says "boy, that little scamp has changed so drastically. Wouldn't you agree, Ail?"

Suddenly, a sad little music box tune starts to play, and when Suwako looks to her shoulder Ail is already gone.

Her face turns blue and she starts to tremble, looking all around for Sanae, and then, a shadow looms from behind, and when Suwako turns around, her "auu" scream echoes all the way down to the Youkai Forest.

-

At the Human Village, Kyo's house is the center of a great party, celebrating Alice, Hourai and Parsee's victory over the crazed Maribel.

Inside the house, Renko sits on the couch, bandages covering half of her head and face and her left shoulder, and Maribel sits beside her with a cup of sake on her hand, looking sad and almost ready to cry, saying "I'm so sorry, Renko. I swear, I didn't know."

Renko sighs, sick of hearing Maribel's incessant apologies, and managing to stay calm she says "it's ok, Mary, I understand."

In the kitchen, Alice, Shanghai, Hourai, Luna and Yuugi sit around the round dinner table, the two little girls sitting on the table itself in front of Alice, all looking serious while Luna writes on a piece of paper.

Luna raises her sight and read "alright, this is what I wrote for Reimu. *ahem* Regarding the incident in the village, it seems that same magical shockwave that's been causing chaos all over Gensokyo is the main cause once again. Somehow, it made Maribel's mind unstable and triggered within her, the ability to create dangerous storms and trap people inside mountains made of glass. Outside interference blew the incident out of proportion, making Maribel's unstable self even more powerful. In the end, thanks to the combined effort of the yama and her shinigami, Alice, Hourai and Parsee, along with outside help from many friends, the incident was resolved, and everything returned to normal promptly."

Luna glances all around the table, waiting to see if there was any complains, and that's when she notices Parsee standing next to Yuugi, glaring at her with contempt.

Luna scowls and asks "yes? Is something wrong?"

Parsee stares back, her ears flip, then she says "why must you be the one to write that? Why can't I write it!?"

Yuugi head-locks Parsee, covering her mouth while she smiles at the angry Luna, then nervously says "ignore her. She's just being jealous."

Luna glares back at Parsee for a while, but then sighs and says "fine, fine! I'll take this to Reimu, fist thing in the morning."

All the girls nod at the same time, even Parsee, who is still in Yuugi's grasp.

Meanwhile, Kyo is drunk, and dancing alongside some other drunk male villagers, all dancing their way outside.

On the house's porch, Byakuren, Shou, Medicine and Yuyuko sit with teacups on their hands, all staring with whimsical smiles to the sky, until Kyo and the others come out dancing drunk.

Shou and Medicine stare with worry, while Byakuren and Yuyuko keep their whimsical smiles and simply say "oh my" at the same time.

Medicine comments "ugh, he's drunk again", while Shou nods in agreement.

Youmu and Nue come out of the house with trays of snacks, Nue occasionally taking a cookie or cake from the tray and eating it in one bite, while just outside the house, Minamitsu and Ichirin are having a competition to see whether Unzan's fists, or Minamitsu's anchors can cause the most damage.

Nazrin lies on her back on the roof to the two floor house, looking up to the golden afternoon while drifting to sleep, thinking "just another day."

-

That night, at the Moriya Shrine, while Lily, Ail, Koishi in Budou's clothes, and Budou on Koishi's clothes, enjoy a large piece of pie, Marisa, Mima and Wriggle quietly approach the donation box in the front of the shrine.

Mima and Wriggle stay behind, while Marisa approaches the donation box, drops a few coins, quietly rings the bells and softly claps as if in prayer, then says "gods of this shrine, listen to my prayer. Please, aid me in my quest, so come here before I blab about your misdeeds!"

As if forcefully summoned, Suwako and Kanako pop right above Marisa, and fall on the ground on top of her.

The goddesses look around with confusion, and when they realize Marisa is groaning under then, they jump off and notice Mima and Wriggle waving at them from a distance.

Marisa trembles and groans while standing up, and with a forced smile on her face, she says "sorry if I sound pushy, but I need your help."

The goddesses look at each other, then back at Marisa, and suddenly they are surrounded by a dome made of light. Suwako frowns and says "we told you, didn't we!"

Kanako says "we were NEVER involved with your little plan, regardless of what could happen."

Outside, Mima and Wriggle look at each other, then Mima asks "can you hear what they are saying?"

Wriggle shrugs and tries to speak, but Mystia flies around, loudly singing "CHIN CHIN! CHIN CHIN~!"

Mima's face turns blue, while Wriggle shakes an angry fist to the air and shouts "I'M A GIRL, DAMMIT!"

Inside the dome, Marisa yells "I know that! I'm not here to say anything! I need your help so I can fix this mess!"

Kanako frowns and loudly replies "with that attitude, all you're going to get is another blunder!"

Suwako adds "it's not our fault you couldn't read that book anyway, so why should we help out now!?"

Marisa gasps and stares back at the two goddesses with surprise and fury.

Her body trembles as her rage escalates, fire burning in her eyes, instinctively pulling her Hakkero from under her hat.

She points it at the two goddesses and shouts "you knew!! You knew about this!! Why didn't you tell me!? I wanted to help Reimu, not cause this mess!! Why the hell didn't you tell me!?"

Kanako smirks and with a wicked and ominous look on her face, she says "of course we knew. But if we told you, you would have never opened that place for us."

Marisa's rage escalates more, her hand trembling violently while pointing with her Hakkero.

Suwako smiles and casually says "you see, inside that dragon paradise there are these magical minerals then never run out. We need to collect a good chunk of that for us to give to the kappa, and that way, they can help Gensokyo evolve into what it should be."

Kanako says "all we need is an excuse to leave the shrine, or a moment when Sanae isn't here, go there, pick up the minerals, and give them to the kappa. Gensokyo will become a modern paradise for all in just days!"

Marisa hyperventilates, her rage making her skin turn red, and with hatred in her voice she shouts "MASTER SPARK~~!!!"

A tiny spark is all that comes out of her Hakkero, and that's when she remembers the seal inside of her.

Kanako and Suwako smirk, then Kanako says "that was... pathetic."

Suwako scoffs, then says "look, we didn't want this to happen either, but what's done is done. Now is the time to look forward. Just give us a few days to get the minerals, then you can do whatever it is you want to make that maiden happy again, alright?"

Kanako adds "but please, if you're going to try something like that again, make sure you have your heart in the right place, ok?"

With that, the two goddesses walk away back to the shrine, leaving Marisa with a bitter feeling inside of her.

Mima and Wriggle look back to her with concern as she turns around with her head hanging low, and her eyes hidden under her hat.

As she walks past them, Wriggle asks "miss witch, what's the matter?"

Marisa continues to walk away, keeping her thoughts all to herself, rage and confusion coursing through her mind.

-

Meanwhile, at the SDM, Rika sits on one of the dining room chairs, holding on to Remilia, who fell asleep while clinging on to her.

Next to her are Meiling, who holds on to Flandre while she sleeps with a content face, and observing them unblinking, is Patchouli, scribbling notes on to a little red book with blank pages.

Rika sighs and says "miss Patchouli, that was just too irresponsible. Laxatives can be poisonous to vampires!"

Patchouli stops scribbling for a moment, staring back with an uncaring face, and casually says "it's alright. I removed the poisonous properties. Regardless of what you may think, I do care for Remi.", then continues scribbling.

Meiling yawns and says "well, at least she stopped from trying to eat the fairy maid's wings.", then looks at Rika and asks "how are you holding up?"

Rika stands up, lifting her arms up to show how well Remilia is hanging on to her, and with a tired smile she says "well, I'm a little tired, but it's ok."

Remilia starts to moan and rub her face on Rika's belly, making the maid blush beet red and sit down.

Remilia stretches her wings, yawns and lets go of Rika to stretch her arms, and when she opens her eyes, Rika smiles at her and says "good evening, miss Scarlet."

After blinking twice, Remilia's sight slowly recovers, then she realizes she's sitting on Rika's lap.

At first, it seems she's quite calm about it, but she suddenly jumps to the ceiling, screaming in rage and releasing danmaku orbs all over the room, shouting "what the hell is the meaning of this~!!?"

Rika, Meiling, and Patchouli take Flandre under the table while she continues to sleep as though nothing is going on, Meiling screaming "my lady, please calm down!"

Patchouli looks at Rika and calmly says "well, it appears she's completely unharmed."

Remilia grabs the large table, lifts it to the air with no effort, then tosses it aside and screams once more.

Remilia points at Rika and says "you tried to KILL me! And you!!!"

Remilia turns her attention to Meiling and Patchouli, and in a dangerous tone of voice she says "you've all betrayed me! You were plotting to kill me and FLAN, weren't you!?"

Before Meiling explain, Remilia says "no matter. Nothing a little disciplinary action can fix!"

Remilia summons an energy orb and raises it above her head, energizing it with both hands until it becomes 10 times her own body size.

She releases the slow orb toward her servants, however Rika rushes in front of the energy, and using her family sword, she cuts it various times, turning it to dust.

Remilia screams in rage, however, something about Rika's voice makes her stop as she says "miss Scarlet, that's enough. They were trying to stop me, but I beat them all in a fair fight! If you're going to punish someone, it'll have to be me!"

Patchouli and Meiling open their mouths, but Rika looks back to them with her usual smile, then winks.

Remilia smirks, pulling out a spell card from under her capelet and says "so, you finally show me your true colors. I can't kill you, so I'll just beat you until you are inches away from death, and then I'll tell Reimu how you, yourself, confessed to the attempt on my life... and so... Scarlet Sign, Scarlet Meis-"

Before Remilia finishes her declarations, Meiling and the awakened Flandre stand in front of Rika with defying faces.

Koakuma flies out of nowhere and stands next to Rika, using her wings and hands to cover the maid, and Patchouli sighs and lightly face palms, then points her finger, readying a water spell, straight at Remilia.

The vampire mistress can't believe her eyes, and with rage in her voice she says "so you rather betray me to save this white-blooded assassin!?"

Koakuma is the first to say "Rika onee-chan is not an assassin! She's good, even to demons like me!"

Meiling nervously says "my lady, she's not bad at all. Just give her the chance!"

Flandre angrily says "she played with me and still took care of the mansion! Stop picking on her already!"

Patchouli calmly says "I'm sorry, Remi, but I think it's unfair you treat her like that, after all she's done for you."

Remilia scoffs and asks "for me!? What has she done for me!?"

From the doorway to the corridor that leads to the foyer, Sakuya says "well, she's prepared all your meals, you tea, fixed the mansion, dealt with the fairy maids, and nursed me back to health faster than the alien doctor predicted."

Remilia gasps in excitement and surprise after seeing Sakuya standing in her white sleeping robes, looking as healthy as ever, ignoring the angry scowl Sakuya is giving her.

Remilia asks "wait a minute? She's been nursing you!? But... I thought?"

Sakuya sighs and angrily says "she's still here because she wants to make sure I can keep on my feet longer than 3 hours."

Remilia slowly descends, looking confused and a little scared, saying "but, but... Beings like her despise beings like us."

Koakuma says "no, she's different! She could have killed me, but she cured me, and thanks to her medicine I feel much better!"

Flandre adds "not only she's been playing with me! She's fixed my flying machine. She even made two smaller ones so you and I can play around the house!"

Meiling adds "she's been helping me train a lot. She's even helped me with my speed, my lady."

Patchouli adds "AND she's been working her butt off so that you could continue the lifestyle you're so accustomed to."

Rika blushes, and sounding a bit bashful she says "aw, it was nothing, really. I'm just glad to know I was able to help so much."

Remilia notices the happy faces of her servants and her sister, as well as the condition in which her mansion is.

As clean as if it were Sakuya herself doing the cleaning.

She remembers all her mealtimes and teatimes served right on time, even though Rika doesn't possess time manipulation abilities.

She even remembers various occasion when Rika appeared when called, sometimes even as fast as Sakuya.

Remilia takes a look at Sakuya, all her bandages gone, her skin color back to normal, and her eyes full of life once more.

She clenches her fists tight, her eyes hiding under a dark shadow, then walks toward Sakuya.

She stops when in front of her maid and says "Sakuya, I am very happy to see that you are well once more. Everyone else... please don't bother me. I need to be alone."

Remilia walks to the corridor, and in the blink of the eyes, she's gone.

Flandre excitedly rushes to Sakuya and exclaims "Sakuya~! You're all better!"

While the others head toward the chief maid, Rika continues to stare toward the corridor, thinking about Remilia's face.

-

Two days have passed and the incidents in Gensokyo have settled down.

At the Myouren temple, Yuyuko and Byakuren share whimsical smiles while saying their goodbyes, and Shou and Nue bow to Youmu, who bows back and says "thank you for everything."

Yuyuko smiles whimsically at Byakuren and says "thank you for your hospitality. I still can't believe we stayed two whole days here."

Byakuren returns the whimsical smile and says "please, do come again. And miss Youmu, could you come here for a minute?"

Youmu looks curiously toward Byakuren, and the moment she gets close enough, Byakuren grabs her and wraps her arms tightly around her, saying "I want you to know I am beyond grateful for freeing me. I was too frightened to get out on my own so... thank you so very much."

At first, Youmu feels embarrassed, but slowly, she relaxes, feeling as though she's being hugged by her own mother.

When Byakuren lets her go, they all can see the pink on Youmu's cheeks.

Nue is about to comment on it, however Yuyuko's glare makes her think otherwise.

After that, they all wave at each other, and Youmu and Yuyuko fly off, back home to the Netherworld.

Meanwhile, at the void between paradises, Ail recovers the painful memory, as to why he left Gensokyo in search for his place in life.

Ail turns dark blue as he says "and then, I managed to regain my senses, just in time too. Kanako launched a pretty heavy attack and Sanae was right there, right where the attack was aimed, so I used the last of my energy to protect her. Broke my arm in the process... and when that happened."

The guardian dragon sighs and says "it's only natural, that after all these events, you felt fear and uncertainty. The pain you were feeling at that moment did not help, as it made you feel as though everyone and everything became a threat."

Ail sighs and says "not only that. That's the first time I fully realized how dangerous I truly was. All the messes, the trouble, the dangers I put all those I care about through. And between you and me, I still don't know what the heck's a lecher."

The guardian dragon ponders, scratching his humanoid-dragon chin, then says "perhaps it would be best if you asked Sanae about that."

Ail asks "is that so~!?"

The guardian dragon panics and says "great, NOW you've done it!"

Ail quickly asks "what. What did I do now?"

From the gate comes a small whelp-sized black dragon with golden hair on her neck, and three horns, two above her ears, one on her nose, and the right one is red.

She walks to Ail with an angry look, then bites him hard, chewing him like bubblegum, and after blowing him like a balloon, she takes him out of her mouth and pokes him with her little claw, making him pop violently.

After she's done, she blows a small black cloud from her nose and says "stop stealing my lines, you idiot!"

Ail groans as each of his pieces come together to remake him, then painfully asks "ow. Who was that?"

The guardian dragon says "that was Muria. She's a little pest that eats geckos and anything else that has meat on it. She is also very good at handling the darkness."

Ail can see stars circle over his head while thinking "heh, sounds like Rumia."

A large orb of light enters the room and pops in front of the guardian dragon.

He hums and says "it seems your dragon friend got herself into some trouble. I am going to need your help here."

Ail nervously asks "w-won't I get in trouble?"

The guardian dragon smiles and says "these order come from the yama himself. Come, let's quickly go."

Ail casually says "ok" then rushes outside.

He is blinded for a second as he exits the gate, and when he opens his eyes again, he notices he's inside a white dragon.

Panicking, he shouts "oh... oh no! What happened? Where am I? What am I?"

The guardian dragon's voice says "relax, little human. It seems you got into my body. Give me a second, I'll get you out."

Before long, Ail's spirit pops right out of the guardian dragon's head, then sighs with relief, however, the guardian dragon looks at him with concern and asks "you learned something, didn't you?"

Ail turns lilac, then giggles, while the dragon guardian lightly face palms and shakes his head.

-

At the SDM, Rika enters the main hall, where Remilia has been spending most of her time for the past days, wearing a less extravagant white dress.

She serves the tea, just like Remilia herself likes it; just as if Sakuya herself was serving her.

Rika notices there are no more angry glares, no more sudden screaming, no more verbal attacks, however she also notices sadness in the mistress' eyes.

A sadness she hides deep within herself. Rika smiles and bows while saying "please, enjoy you tea, my Lady Scarlet."

Remilia stares at the door, and in a cold tone of voice she asks "why?"

Rika stares back with a bit of concern, then Remilia jumps off her chair and lifts her wings, then continues "why don't you hate me? Why aren't you angry!? I shunned you, called you names, branded you a monster, an assassin, yet you smile like nothing's happened! That BOTHERS ME! Hate me! Be angry!"

Rika stares with a bit of surprise for a moment, then places her hand on her chest, smiles, and says "miss Scarlet, when I was younger, even though I was surrounded by people that loved me and cared for me, taught me to be who I am, I still didn't have anybody I could call a friend, because they were always so busy, and I was 'weird' to the others of my age. That robbed me from my happiness, even though I tried my best not to show it. However, that gave me the resolve I needed, the strength to promise to myself to make others happy, no matter what, because everyone deserves to be happy."

Remilia's wings drop, the fire in her eyes seems to dim, then she sits down while staring at Rika with concern and pity.

Rika smiles and bows down, then says "that's why I worked twice as hard for you, miss Scarlet. I wanted you to see I'm not that monster you thought I was."

Rika giggles, and before she leaves the room she whispers "and it seems I did just that."

Remilia ignores that last comment, and with a lost expression in her face, she picks her teacup and stares into it for a while.

Later, at the library, Rika enters with a tray full of snacks for Patchouli and Koakuma, when a large spiked log flies straight toward her.

Koakuma shouts "onee-chan! Look out!"

Rika jumps in front of the little cart, raises her hand, and from her palm a large blue magical seal forms up, and around it, five smaller magical circles form up almost instantly, then a powerful stream of water pours form the magical circle, veering the log away from Rika and the food tray.

After dusting her hands and sighing with accomplishment, Rika notices Patchouli staring at her with shock and surprise in her usual dull and expressionless eyes.

Concerned, Rika asks "lady Patchouli, are you alright!?"

Patchouli stares with her mouth wide open for a moment, then recovers her usual uninterested face and asks "how did you do that?"

Rika asks "do what? That water spell?"

Before Rika realizes it, Patchouli is face-to-face, staring straight into her eyes.

Rika gets nervous and asks "wh-what is it? Is something wrong?"

Patchouli blinks twice, allowing Rika to step back, then says "I'm going to be straight with you. I want you to stay with us. Your knowledge and abilities with magic would be a great asset. Not to mention, having a little demon and a little angel will be very useful for future experiments... So, will you stay?"

Rika covers her mouth as she lets out a quick giggle, then says "I could never do that to miss Reimu, lady Patchouli. I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline your most generous offer."

Patchouli lets out a disappointed "mukyu~", then turns around and walks to her desk.

Rika calls for her and says "um, that is... Here..."

Rika pulls out her Saboten Stock, the tiny box that contains so many of her possessions, then pulls out a thick book on magic and hands it to Patchouli, saying "this is what I used to learn about advanced magic, and about seals."

Patchouli stares at Rika and blinks twice, then smiles and says "this should help me. Thank you very much. I will return this as soon as I am done reading it... Oh, that's right."

Patchouli flies to one of the bookshelves on the farthest wall on the third floor of the library and quickly rummages around, pulling out an old book with a thick green cover, then immediately flies back to Rika, handing the book to her and saying "you said you wanted to learn about dark magic too, right? This book should help you."

At first, Rika and Patchouli merely look at each other, but suddenly both start to smile and laugh, and just like that, Rika's sword turns to its colorful state and the diamond on the hilt starts to glow blue.

Rika can hear a quick roar coming from the sword when this happens, then it turns back to normal.

Rika looks at Patchouli and says "well, that was interesting."

Patchouli simply continues to smile, then says "please remember, you are welcome here at any time."

Rika smiles, bows, then says "thank you, lady Patchouli."

Patchouli smiles and says "my friends call me Patchy."

-

At the dragon's paradise, Kimi flies around, minding her own business as she heads toward the mineral mountains, when from above the clouds, the black and red shadow dragon swoops down, missing a claw strike by inches.

Kimi stares back with fury and asks "what the hell's the matter with you? Didn't you learn your lesson the last time?"

The shadow dragon's eyes glow blood red for a second, then she says "you are going to pay DEARLY for messing with me, tiny!"

Kimi smirks, letting a glint escape her right eye, then she says "alright, I got time to teach you another lesson. Just don't blink this time, or you might miss out on it."

Meanwhile, Ail floats on the guardian dragon's back while he races to catch up to Kimi, when suddenly, the guardian dragon says "that's it. You have remembered everything. And no, that is not a fabrication."

Ail sighs and says "I was... hoping it was."

The dragon guardian turns his neck to the little pink spirit and says "go ahead. Tell me about it. You'll feel better."

Ail sighs and says "a lot of things happened, you know... after my battle with those goddesses. Thanks to Shadow Suwako... who is apparently called Spee now, and Girlie, Shinki's Shadow, I learned that the very same spirit that had possessed me and Tenshi, was causing all the dangerous incidents that seemed to be happening all around me. So, after a lot of preparations, I went to hell."

The guardian dragon twitches at the mentioning of that place, but Ail continues, regardless of noticing this.

"I had to go deep inside, using a blessed cloak so I wouldn't fry, a special mask to conceal my identity, and a sword that melted after a few seconds of me touching its hilt."

The dragon keeps quiet, so Ail continues "I managed to do cut its tail and escape before the yamas could find me, and then... Well, that's when I left Gensokyo, in search for a place to belong. What a foolish mistake that was."

The dragon calmly says "remember, you had to go through those trials, Ail. You know that, so stop talking like you are so sad about it."

Ail sighs and says "I'm a little sad because of what I saw, for leaving Budou behind, for not listening to Sanae and my friends..."

Ail turns grey, then says "the world out there is horrible for people like me. Magic and faith mean nothing, and all is ruled by pieces of paper with numbers on them. If you don't have money out there, you might as well not exist at all."

The dragon takes a deep breath, seemingly growling, then says "don't think on it too much, or you'll stain your spirit."

Ail takes a deep breath, taking a humanoid shape that sits with his legs crossed on the dragon's back, then says "you're right. Well, the thing is, I had to get jobs in order to live there, and I was doing ok, until one day, there was this eclipse. My powers went berserk; I couldn't control my magic or my gaps. Some people started 'oohing' and 'ahhing' and that's when they started to get hurt. After about 5 minutes of this, I managed to gain control again, even though that eclipse wasn't over, and then I realized the damaged I had caused. Everything happened so fast after that, and I became a most-wanted felon for harming those people with, what they called, my special effects."

The dragon laughs and asks "so to them, magic does not exist? That's just sad."

Ail nods and continues "well, before I lost all my memories... before I sealed my memories, I ran from those cops and that hunter, called Guzman. I thought of going back into Gensokyo, so I opened a gap back home... but that's when I got shot, and Guzman and some other officers almost entered the gap. Somehow..."

The dragon stays quiet, watching as Ail's color changes from grey to dark grey, then back to grey, then white.

Ail continues "somehow, I managed to close that gap, open up another to the void, and there... In there, I decided, for the safety of my friends and all Gensokyo, to seal away all my memories from my time there, in case I ever got captured, or tried something as stupid as that again."

The dragon lightly shakes his head and says "longing for home is not stupidity, Ail."

Ail quickly replies "opening gaps when surrounded by hostiles is."

The dragon tilts his head momentarily, then softly says "hum well... experience, I guess."

Both Ail and the dragon laugh, then Ail says "but now... after remembering all of this, I understand one thing."

The dragon turns his neck to look at Ail and asks "and what's that?"

Ail quickly replies "everything happens for a reason. Even my forceful re-entrance to Gensokyo, and my being separated from my body like this."

The dragon smile and says "and now, all that's left is for you to return home for good. But for now... it seems we're almost there, so get ready, and remember your lines."

Ali chuckles and says "I won't forget."

-

Meanwhile, Kimi glares at the shadow dragon with a small cut on her snout, while the shadow dragon is full of cuts and burn marks all over her red underbelly.

The shadow dragon furiously says "when I kill you, I'll let the ground creatures devour your pathetic body!"

Kimi smirks and says "that's a great idea. It's better than disintegrating you in mid-air."

The shadow dragon roars with rage, while Kimi simply prepares to intercept an attack.

The shadow dragon spins like a drill as she flies straight toward Kimi, smiling and saying "try and deflect this one, stringy."

Kimi smiles and stays in place, and just before the shadow dragon hits, her scales turn to diamonds, and the drill attack harms the shadow dragon from the recoil damage, chipping off a piece of her horn.

While the shadow dragon roars in pain holding on to her horn, Kimi tackles her hard, sending red beams that trail behind her and immediately home in on their target, sending the shadow dragon falling head-first to the ground below, where her body impacts with a large boom and dust lifts all around.

Kimi smiles wide, revealing her sharp teeth while staring with hungry eyes at her fallen opponent.

She's ready to dive down and claim her tasty-looking prize, but suddenly, the guardian dragon appears in front of her like a flash of light, blocking her way.

Desperately hungry, Kimi drools as she shouts "get out of my way! I won! I deserve my prize!"

The guardian dragon firmly replies "that's now how things work here!"

Kimi is ready to tackle the guardian dragon, but the second she charges her attack, she feels something holding her by the back of her neck, and before she tries to attack whatever it is, Ail says "I have been given permission to enter you mind and kick your consciousness right out of there if you try to attack, so be a good dragon and calm down."

Kimi's face fills with panic, but even so, she doesn't believe him and says "y-you're lying! Y-you can't do that!"

The guardian dragon smiles and says "oh, he got the order from the yama himself, I'm afraid. So, you either calm down and leave this girl alone, or wander around as a spirit for a while."

Kimi raises her claws above her head, staring back with widened round eyes and nervously says "I'm a good girl!!"

Ail and the dragon guardian stare at each other, then smile wide.

Ail flies away from Kimi, and when he lands on the dragon guardian's back, which is 10 times Kimi's own size, the dragon guardian says "come, let's go eat minerals from the mountain. I promise, they are quite tasty."

As they fly away to the mountains, Kimi whispers "they're not as tasty-looking as you, that's for sure."

The dragon guardian curiously asks "what did you say?"

Kimi's scales around her cheeks turn pink as she nervously says "er, um, that is... I'm a good girl, for sure."

Meanwhile, on the ground, the shadow dragon stares up to Kimi in a daze, then says to herself "aww, screw it. How can such a tiny thing have so much power anyway?"

From behind her, Muria asks "what was that, Kiki?"

The shadow dragon sweats as her eyes hide under shadow, then she nervously says "er, nothing! Nothing at all!"

-

Meanwhile, at the SDM, Rika stands just outside the gates with a wide smile on her face as she stares back to her friends, all staring back with sad smiles.

Even Sakuya, who is back on her feet and ready to tackle her duties once more, sniffles while staring back at Rika.

The shrine maid looks back at all and says "please, don't be sad. You know you are all welcome at the shrine at any time, and if you need me for anything, you can come and ask me for help... err, of course, that is if it doesn't inconvenience my lady Reimu."

Flandre lets out a sob, then runs to Rika and says "I'll miss you so much! I loved playing hide-and-seek with you!"

Rika sweats as she hugs the little vampire, and says "it's alright. You still have your friends and miss Sakuya."

Meiling approaches Rika, and as soon as Flandre jumps to her, she extends her free hand to Rika and says "thank you for all those training sessions. I hope we can have another match sometime, and if not, a good picnic doesn't sound too bad, right?"

Rika chuckles nervously, then says "either sounds fine, just please, try not to kick so hard next time."

Meiling giggles and bows, then Patchouli and a sad-looking Koakuma approach Rika, then Patchouli says "thank you very much for your services. Even though I returned before the agreed time, you still helped us out a lot, just like Reimu said you would."

Rika bows and says "I'm just glad I was able to help so much, lady, um, I mean, Patchy."

Koakuma jumps on Rika and gives her a tight hug, saying "I'm sorry I called you an assassin, Rika onee-chan. Promise to visit sometime!"

Rika gently pats Koakuma's head and with a smile on her face, she says "of course, miss Koakuma. You can count on that."

The 4 girls back away, then Koakuma, Patchouli and Flandre head back inside the mansion, while Meiling takes her post back on the gate.

Sakuya approaches Rika, elegantly bows to her, then says "thank you so much for all your help, miss Rika. I am sure lady Remilia is very grateful too. She's just..."

Rika giggles and says "prideful, right?"

Sakuya covers her mouth and giggles, then says "you beat me to it."

The two maids look at each other, then shakes hands, Sakuya saying "well, I'm sure you miss Reimu a lot, so..."

Before they finish their hand-shake, Remilia walks out of the mansion and heads toward Rika and Sakuya, wearing her normal pink dress.

When she reaches them, she looks up to Rika and says "miss Rika, thank you for all your services, and... um..."

Remilia looks away, extending her hand to Rika, then says "I'm sorry."

At first, Rika stares at Remilia for a moment, then accepts her hand-shake and says "you are most welcome, miss Scarlet!"

After shaking her hand, Rika's sword turns to its colorful state, and the diamond glows blue for a while, and after it stops, Remilia looks to Rika with a most serious expression, then Rika elegantly bows and says "then I take my leave, miss Scarlet."

Remilia gets angry and roughly says "stop that lady and miss Scarlet thing! That's miss Remilia, lady Remilia, or just Remilia! So stop with that Scarlet thing, it's creepy!"

At first, Rika stares back a little frightened, but then she smiles, then starts to giggle, then says "understood, miss Remilia!"

She takes to the air and flies away, but before clearing the trees, she gasps and says "oh, I almost forgot! I left you a gift, miss Remilia! I synthesized a few of your dresses with minerals that will deflect sunlight, so you won't have to rely solely on your parasol!"

Rika tilts her head right, giggles, waves her fingers, then hurriedly flies back to the Hakurei shrine.

-

Meanwhile, at the Moriya Shrine.

Hatate is starting to lose her mind, speaking incoherently to herself while typing into her camera, laughing maniacally while looking into pictures of Kanako and Suwako powering up Marisa's magical circles.

Her eyes seem to have rings around them as she smiles wide and says "this is it! The big scoop of a lifetime! Yes, yes! I must tell... this BUG!"

She drops on the ground and stares at a dead beetle, then shows it the pictures and says "look, look. Those goddesses are helping the witch, like, all secretly and eerily!"

The seemingly dead bug starts to shiver with fear, as Hatate gets the camera closer, but she stops when she hears some footsteps just above her.

She screams "PLEASE! Get me out of here! HELP~! HELP ME~!"

She can hear Budou, angrily saying "hey, mister subconscious. Leave that rock alone!"

Koishi adds "but it's fun to push rocks. You should try it."

Budou angrily replies "don't encourage him."

Hatate panics and flaps her arms, shouting "ENCOURAGE HIM! PUSH THAT THING!!!"

Above, Lily flies to Ail, looking a little tired and pale, and weakly saying "good morning."

Budou sighs and says "it's already lunch time... Hey miss Lily, are you alright?"

Lily smiles weakly, nods, then yawns.

Budou looks seriously at Ail and says "hey, shell of papa. Maybe you should tell her to go sleep. Spring is almost over."

Ail stares back with a smile on his face, then nods.

He points his open palm toward Koishi, but nothing happens.

Underneath, Hatate drops to the ground and starts crying, saying "this is so unfair! All I did was help out to get a subscription to my newspaper, and who knows... eh?"

To her left, a purple oval with many eyes staring back at her opens up like a zipper.

She gets closer to investigate it, then is suddenly sucked in. In an instant, she's out from underneath the rock, and instead is surrounded by tall bamboo shoots.

She looks around, unable to get her bearings, then shouts out loud "now where the hell AM I~~!!?"

Meanwhile, back at the Moriya Shrine grounds, Budou impatiently taps her foot, looking angrily toward Ail, then says "well? Are you going to do something!?"

Ail stares at his hands, then points his left hand upward.

A large black gap opens up and sucks in Ail and the 3 girls, then immediately closes up.

Immediately, they all find themselves in front of Remilia and Sakuya, who have just finished saying their goodbyes to Rika.

Remilia covers her drooling mouth when she looks at Ail, then says "Sa-Sakuya! His blood! Get him away!"

Sakuya grabs Remilia as Budou asks "where are we? The Scarlet Mansion!?"

Sakuya passes by Meiling, who stares at Ail and the girls, then says "Meiling, keep them out of the mansion while I return!"

Meiling salutes and says "it will be done!"

Before Sakuya continues her way, a large silver washtub falls right on top of Meiling's head, knocking her out immediately, and when she looks up to the tree branches above, she sees Koakuma covering her mouth and happily giggling.

Sakuya frowns and shouts "alright then, YOU can help her!"

Koakuma's face changes, fright and concern filling her eyes as she says "wait, what!? That's not fair!"

-

At the Dragon yama's courtroom, the polished floors are all full of burn marks and scratches, the elegant desk lies in ruins, the dragon yama himself lies on his back with dizzy, spinning eyes, moaning and drooling, while his shinigami remains in her human form, swinging her scythe around in a rage.

Above the room, a giant blue image of Shikieiki angrily says "and furthermore! For the intrusion into this territory, and the interference with an already dangerous incident, as punishment, your shinigami will remain in her human form until next spring of YOUR world, and this message and report is now being played for the higher spirits. So, dragon yama, and dragon shinigami, have a nice day, and if you try to interfere with my jurisdiction again, I will take disciplinary actions. Thank you and have a good day."

The message stops, Shikieiki's image disappears, then turns back into a blue scroll.

Enraged, the dragon shinigami shouts "this is all YOUR fault!!"

The dragon yama continues to lie on the floor next to his destroyed desk, moaning while his eyes spin in place, and after some time, he manages to say "th-that girl... is a menace!"

-

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Kyo, Luna and Kimi were created by Willie G.R.

Muria was derived from Rumia, and Kiki was derived from Agava/Kali.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot2010

APR 27 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Well, this is embarrassing! I wanted to add a small-time incident, but it ended up being a VERY peaceful chapter. Oh well, the incident/s will have to wait until next chapter, huh?**

**Thank you for showing your support! Yes, those reviews lift my spirits and help me write even more enthusiastically. Remember that helpful reviews help me, and other writers improve as well. Anyway, see you next chapter, if the spirits will allow it.**


	17. Chapter 17

At the SDM, things have finally settled down after Sakuya takes her mistress safely back inside, away from Ail.

Koakuma, who is being forced to take care of the unexpected guests, along with Meiling, has a sad and tired look as she sighs and thinks "after all my careful planning, the chief maid caught me, Patchouli-sama. And for some reason, she seems stronger than before. I'm scared."

Sakuya is a little farther away from the gate, kneeling down in order to address to Budou properly.

She stares into the bat youkai's eyes and asks "then he suddenly opened a gap and sent you here?"

Budou nods and angrily says "I guess that thing has some of papa's abilities."

Sakuya rubs her chin while thinking, then says "I guess it can't be helped."

She stands back up and looks back to address to Koakuma and Meiling, and says "listen up! I'm going to the Hakurei Shrine and ask Reimu for help. In the meantime, take good care of our guests, but please, keep them out of the mansion."

Budou flaps her wings once, angrily staring at Sakuya, then says "wait, what's that for? I'll have you know we are all well-behaved and wouldn't..."

Sakuya turns around with a stern look, making Budou quiet down, then slowly gets closer to the small youkai's ear and whispers "Ail's blood seems to be irresistible for my lady, and if he goes inside he'll be putting himself, and probably all of you in danger. Stay outside for your own safety."

Budou calms down, understanding that Sakuya meant no harm, so she blushes in embarrassment from her outburst, nods, then says "I... understand. Sorry I yelled, miss."

Sakuya smiles, pats Budou's head, then says "stay here for now. From what my lady says, I don't think it's prudent to take you with me to the shrine. I'll try to return as soon as I can."

With that, Sakuya elegantly bows to Budou, who mimics Sakuya's bow with respect, then disappears in the blink of an eye.

Meiling and Koakuma sigh with relief, then Meiling loudly says "well, you heard her! You can stay around here, but please, stay outside the mansion!"

The second Meiling says this, she notices Koishi walking straight into the gardens, brazenly ignoring Meiling and smiling back at her as she walks further inside.

Meiling frowns and chases after Koishi while shouting "hey! Stay outside! Didn't you hear me! I said OUTSIDE!"

Koakuma tries to grab Meiling, panic filling her eyes, and when she turns around, she has Budou, Lily White, and Ail, all staring back at her.

She loses her color and starts to tremble, but manages to smile and nervously say "er, why don't you head down to the lake? The water should be nice and cool."

Budou stares back at Koakuma with her innocent expression, the same expression Sanae and the goddesses miss.

She blinks, smiles, then nods and says "alright! Maybe we'll find smart sis Cirno there!"

Lily exclaims "Cirno! Let's go!"

Budou and Lily rush ahead, while Ail stares at the nervous Koakuma for a little while longer, then suddenly rushes off, running like a dog on all 4 legs.

Koakuma relaxes and sighs, then says to herself "so annoying, lady Patchouli. But seriously, all he needs is a tail, some fur, maybe a pair of ears, and he'd make a cute dog."

Meanwhile, Rika arrives to the Hakurei Shrine and finds it surprisingly empty.

No Aya, no Suika, no Mima, not even her mistress Reimu.

She lands and immediately calls "miss Reimu~! I'm home~!"

There is no reply and Rika says to herself "th-that's odd", then takes a deep breath and calls "miss Reimu, is anybody here!"

Anxiety fills her heart, thinking something must have happened to Reimu while she was away, so she rushes to the side-entrance and pulls on the sliding door, loudly calling "miss Reimu, please answer... me?"

The moment she opens the doors, a mountain of scrolls, lose papers, and some books, all fall right on top of her, burying her underneath a large pile, where her screams are muffled.

From inside, Reimu asks "Rika? Is that you!"

Rika pops her head from underneath the mountain of papers and scroll with a happy smile, and loudly says "my lady~! You're alright!"

From inside, Reimu shouts "RIKA~! You're back! Wait, let me help you!"

Rika hears steps coming from inside the shrine, and when she finally sees her mistress, she notices the exhausted look on her face as she pulls her out of the paper mountain.

Without realizing it, they hug each other with big smiles on their faces, Rika involuntarily flapping her wings very rapidly.

When they let go, Rika looks at Reimu with concern and asks "my lady, what's wrong! You look exhausted! Here, let me take care of you!"

Before Rika can grab hold of Reimu, the shrine maiden is already zipping back to her room, rapidly saying "I can't, I can't! Not now, not now!"

Rika watches how Reimu gets desperate at the thought of stopping, then she also gets desperate and asks "my lady, what is it? What's going on here? What's with all these papers and scrolls!"

Reimu reaches her room and sits on the only spot in the room that's not covered with papers and says "it's no use! I can't close that gate Marisa opened, but it's ok! The reports from Kyo and Luna tell me she's doing that herself. I can count on her, she'll close it!"

Rika watches as Reimu grabs the first scroll she spots and starts to hurriedly read through it, then asks "then why so stressed, what's the matter?"

Reimu suddenly lifts her sight to Rika, showing even more despair in her eyes, then says "I-I'm sure Patchouli told you, that someone helped Marisa open that gate, right!"

Rika nods, then Reimu continues "well, only Marisa knows how to close this, since most was made by herself, with her own two hands, haha! Well, the thing is, if I can find who powered up those runes and things, they can help me get Ail back to us, and since HE was the one that opened the gate itself, he should be able to help us close it off... That is, if Marisa can't find a way. But it's getting late, I don't have time. ARGH! If I could just find out who the hell powered up those things!"

Rika rushes to Reimu and jumps on her, giving her a hug-tackle, immediately noticing how violently Reimu is trembling.

She tightens her grip and says "my lady, you need to rest! If you don't rest, you won't be able to think straight!"

Reimu stops struggling against Rika, then says "rest... yeah. Th-that sounds great! Just a break, maybe a 5 minute nap and..."

There is a loud explosion that rocks the shrine itself, then Reimu starts to cry out "rest and relaxation go bye bye~!"

Rika and Reimu run outside the shrine and head to the gate in front, immediately spotting some smoke coming from Eintei, at the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.

Reimu is about to set off, however, Rika grabs her and pulls her back to the ground and says "my lady Reimu, you will go and take a nap! I'll got check that out, alright?"

Reimu takes a few breaths, then asks "what? Why can't I...?"

Rika strictly says "miss Reimu Hakurei, you go and take a good rest, maybe eat something, and I will not accept a 'no', is that clear!"

Reimu stands straight, salutes Rika, then says "yes ma'am! Rest, food, sleep, EAT!"

Rika strictly says "good. Now MARCH back to that shrine and take a break!"

Reimu obediently walks to the shrine, repeating "rest, food, eat, sleep", while Rika takes off toward the Bamboo Forest.

While she flies toward the forest, she fidgets with her hands and says to herself "oh my, Rika. You just gave an order to miss Reimu. Uuu~, I hope she's not mad."

At the shores of the Misty Lake, Ail flies just above the water, while Lily looks around, calling "Cirno~! It's spring~! Come play!"

Budou stays on the shore, leaving her pink socks right beside herself, sinking her feet in the water while sighing contently, then says to herself "I know I can take them all back home, but Lily's acting strange, Koishi's no help, and papa's shell won't really listen unless he's forced to. Ah well, I might as well just... eh? A seashell in a lake?"

To her right, Budou finds a large pink seashell, so out of curiosity, she gets her feet out of the water and approaches the item.

She looks into its opening and exclaims "ooh~. Just like the pictures in the internet. Wait... there was that thing... umm."

Budou looks to the sky, trying to remember what she read, then snaps her fingers and gasps with excitement, then says "that's right, if I press it against my ear, I can hear the ocean!"

She slowly lifts the shell, but before she can press it against her ears, a small stream of water comes out of the opening in the shell, getting her face a little wet.

She rubs off the water and casually says "hmm, seems it had some water in it. Oh well, let's hear that ocean."

She quickly presses the shell on to her ear, but she hears nothing. She pulls it away and says "maybe it's broken?", then suddenly a huge stream of water comes out of the shell, getting Budou soaking wet, then whispers "I know where you live~!"

Budou stares at the seashell with fright, then throws it in the air and runs away, screaming "WAAAH~~! Koakuma! Miss Koakuma help~! It's a seashell with issues!"

Right after Budou leaves, Ail jumps from behind a bush, then casually walks toward the seashell and promptly picks it up.

He sniffs the backside of the shell, then places it on his ears, closes his eyes, then smiles.

Moments later, Budou comes pulling on Koakuma's hand pointing to the shore of the lake and saying "it's over here. It said some nasty things and got me all wet, then told me it knows where I live!"

Koakuma nervously says "maybe y-you just imagined it!"

When they arrive to the spot, Budou looks around, unable to find the seashell, then Budou says "wait, it was here, I swear!"

Koakuma stares at Budou with wonder, then says "look, I believe you. In fact, it could have been one of lady Patchouli's experiments. Anyway, you are soaking wet, so why don't we go inside for a moment so I can get you something dry?"

Budou stares suspiciously at Koakuma and says "you want to play a mean prank on me, don't you?"

Koakuma twitches, her eyes turn round and white, then she sweats and says "s-smart little bat, aren't you?"

Both girls look toward the water in fright as bubbles start coming from below, violently popping when reaching the surface.

Under the water, the seashell expels various bubbles that get bigger the longer this happens, then suddenly stops and a brown fish comes swimming from inside the shell.

Back at the shore, Koakuma and Budou hug each other with fright as the bubbles get more and more violent, then stop.

Koakuma and Budou look at each other, and with a curious look, they get closer to the water and look down.

Something large comes out of the water, making a loud splash, making Budou scream and fly away as fast as she can, and Koakuma faint while foaming at the mouth.

In the water, Ail stares curiously as Budou flies away, then turns his attention to the fainted devil next to the water.

He jumps out of the water and sits next to Koakuma, then stares at her.

He shakes her by her shoulders, and when she doesn't wake up, he sits like a dog next to her and looks around, as if guarding her until she wakes up.

Meanwhile, Rika lands in the middle of the Bamboo Forest, having noticed a small glint in the area.

She looks around and calls "is anybody out there!", and when there's no reply, she says to herself "hmm, it seems I may have been wrong. I guess I should head to Eintei now."

Before she takes the first step toward her destination, there is a loud rustle, so Rika stops in place and holds her sword by its hilt, waiting for something to happen.

It's quiet, but Rika can feel a cold chill in the air, and an uneasy feeling in her heart.

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, then from her right, Hatate jumps right out of the bamboo, screaming out loud with a terrorized look on her face, quickly followed by a large bird with a thin long beak with a yellow colored band on the tip, three colored stem-like feathers on the head, and the rest of its body seems to be covered with yellow hair.

Hatate spots Rika and shouts "save me!", then jumps behind her.

Rika takes another deep breath and sheathes her sword again, opening her eyes, staring peacefully at the enraged bird, who scratches the ground under its sharp claws, ready to charge.

Rika slowly approaches the bird, flapping her wings gently, and in a sweet tone of voice she says "there, there, it's alright. Please, tell me why are you chasing this girl, little friend?"

At first, the bird squawks and backs away from Rika, showing her a tiny pair of featherless wings, but Rika's voice soothes the creature, calming it down and allowing her to pet his head.

She smiles and giggles, then says "there, you see? There's no reason to get aggressive. Now, why were you chasing her in the first place?"

The bird softly nips Rika's cheeks, making a "buck" sound, as if it were talking to her.

Rika suddenly says "I see", then looks at Hatate, and says "miss tengu, did you stake this bird's carrot?"

At first, Hatate gets nervous and stutters, thinking of running away again, however when she looks into Rika's eyes, she feels great peace inside of her, and without hesitation, she pulls a large carrot right out of her pocket and sadly says "I'm sorry, I'm just famished."

The bird quickly reaches for its carrot, and the moment it takes it Hatate flinches, then it goes away after rubbing its cheek against Rika's face. Hatate starts to cry "so hungry dammit all. First those stupid goddesses trap me, then I end up in this place, and now I'll STARVE to death!"

Hatate stops crying when Rika presents her with an apple, and some cookies wrapped in a sheet.

She looks up to Rika's smile and asks "fo-for... me?"

Rika giggles and says "it was my lunch, but it seems you need it more than I do."

Hatate desperately grabs the apple and starts to munch contently, thanking Rika over and over, even though her mouth is full.

She chokes on the cookies, coughing lightly, though still gobbling the cookies down, so Rika serves her some iced green tea, which she slurps down in just a second.

After Hatate is done eating, she looks at Rika's smiling face and blushes, then feeling a bit embarrassed, she says "I'm sorry I gobbled up your lunch like that. But I am, like, ever so grateful. Those stupid goddesses from the mountain only fed me once! I'm practically skin and bones!"

Rika gasps with concern and says "no, no, it's my pleasure. I'm glad to help, but what do you mean by that?"

Hatate sighs and says "I used my spirit photography to find out who helped that black and white witch from the forest to, like, power up this crazy experiment of hers."

Rika gasps and thinks "she knows! My lady Reimu, this is GREAT news!"

Hatate continues "but before I could tell the Hakurei maiden, those goddesses, like, kidnapped me and had me trapped for days! Lucky this portal thingy freed me, though I'm kinda lost here."

Rika smiles and says "how fortunate. My name is Rika Onkamikami, and I'm miss Reimu's maid!"

Hatate smiles and gasps excitedly, then says "then you can really help me now! My name is Hatate Himekaidou! Look!"

Hatate immediately shows Rika the pictures of the goddesses powering up the magical circles, then says "and while I was trapped, I managed to dig in deeper. It appears they knew what was going to happen too!"

Rika holds her head, feeling a little angry, making her head spin in place for a moment, then she looks at Hatate, smiles, then says "well, miss Hatate, I have something to do over here, so why don't you join me, and when we're done, we'll go back to miss Reimu, so you can tell her about this?"

Hatate smiles and says "sure thing! Helping you is, like, a great way to repay your kindness!"

Rika giggles, stands up, helps Hatate up, then says "then please, follow me. This shouldn't take long. I know these people. They are very nice."

As they walk toward Eintei, Hatate gasps and says "excellent, I get to take some great pictures!"

They promptly arrive to Eintei and find Tewi just outside the mansion, looking for something on the ground.

Rika peeks through the gates, while Hatate stays behind her, then calls "hello~ Miss Tewi, is that you?"

Tewi raises her ears, then her head, then says "I know that voice. Miss Rika, is that you!"

When she gets up, she turns around and finds Rika standing with a smile next to the gate.

Tewi smiles and walks to her, then asks "well, miss Rika, what bring you here? Perhaps some bulky crybaby of a man cut his finger with his own sword?"

At Kyo's house, Kyo sits on the table, reading the Bunbunmaru Newspaper, when he suddenly lifts his head and says "for some reason, I want to kick a certain rabbit's butt."

Back at Eintei, Rika chuckles and says "no, no, none of that. Me and Hatate here are investigating some explosions that came earlier from here. Do you know anything about that?"

Tewi smiles, then suddenly hugs Rika, making her sword turn colorful and the diamond glow blue, then says "I like you, so I'll tell you. You see..."

Before she can explain, Eirin comes from her clinic and says "oh, miss Rika, what seems to be the matter?"

From behind Eirin, Reisen pops a curious head, then stares at Rika's eyes and suddenly starts to shiver.

Rika stares back curiously as Hatate asks "what's wrong with THAT sexy bunny?"

From the mansion, Kaguya walks out, commenting "oh, miss Rika's here. I haven't seen her in a... What the!"

Rika smiles and waves, but before she can greet Kaguya, the moon princess growls and points at Rika, then says "YOU~! You're one of them, aren't you! The Onkamikami! Those gods that serve other gods! Your family didn't like me being princess. They said I was too 'high and mighty!' that's a serious lack of respect and act of treason, you know!"

Rika looks at Kaguya with concern and confusion, and after hearing her out she gasps and covers her mouth with her right hand and says "oh my, I'm sorry miss Kaguya, but..."

Kaguya interrupts her by abruptly saying "I bet you want me to THINK you are my friend, but oh no, I'm too smart for you! EIRIN! Do NOT let her near me! Inaba, Inaba! You two stay away from her!"

Before Rika or Tewi can protest, Eirin points at Rika with her arrow, and with a cold voice she says "I'm sorry miss Rika, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave!"

Tewi looks at Rika with great concern, but all she can do silently shrug with a sad face and head back to the mansion, where Reisen quickly follows to, followed by Eirin, who continues to point with her arrow at Rika.

When the doors to the mansion shut closed, Rika's lips wriggle along with her eyes.

She slumps and starts to whimper, then Hatate places a friendly hand on Rika's shoulder and says "don't cry. I'm still your friend. So, like, don't listen to those weirdoes."

Rika looks at Hatate, then hugs her and starts to cry and says "bu-bu... they were my friends. They were so nice! *sob* That hurt!"

Hatate sighs and pats Rika's back, saying "that's it, let it all out, sis."

At first, the diamond on Rika's sword glows blue, but it slowly turns pink, while Hatate continues to comfort Rika.

At the Misty Lake's shore, Budou sits under the sun, almost falling asleep while she waits for her clothes to dry up while still wearing them.

On the water, Lily, Cirno and Daiyousei fly around in circles, having a great time, apparent from the happy look on their faces.

Koishi sits farther way in plain view of Meiling and Koakuma, as if helping them watch the others, and Ail continues to swim, occasionally disappearing for some time, then suddenly reappearing out of nowhere.

A shadow watches all from the distance, snickering while waiting.

It notices when Koishi seems to fall asleep while on watch, then says "it's time."

Lily, Cirno and Daiyousei fly in circles once more, then stop while inches above the lake water and giggle.

A snake-like shadow rushes to the fairies, then Kali takes her human-like form and before the fairies can react, she strikes Lily on the head with the back of her hand, sending her flying straight at Budou, who wakes up the moment Lily crashes on to her.

Budou manages to get up and exclaims "watch it! Wait, Lily, what happened!"

Immediately she notices Kali threatening Cirno and Daiyousei, and Ail is missing again.

She shouts "Koishi, get miss Meiling!"

Koishi wakes up and when she looks back, Meiling and Koakuma are gone.

Koishi gasps and rushes to the gates, saying to herself "great time to go gardening!"

Budou approaches she shore and shouts "hey, you jerk! Why don't you go jump back under a rock!"

Kali hisses, her eyes glow bright red, then she rushes to Budou, ignoring the fleeing fairies, then says "make me, you little twerp!"

Lily gets back up, frowning at Kali and preparing a powerful attack.

The moment she releases her danmaku, it turns to dust in the air and the little fairy falls on her face back to the ground.

Budou watches this, then turns around to Kali, her eyes turning aquamarine as she angrily says "oh, now you've done it, shady!"

Budou flaps her wings and takes flight, then immediately unleashes 5 homing lasers, accompanied by light-blue orbs that head straight to the shadow.

Kali smiles and dodges all the attacks by simply flying away from Budou's range, then hisses and smiles, then says "my turn, kid!"

She prepares a large orb that Budou foolishly thinks is not that fast, however when Kali unleashes her attack, it's already striking Budou before she can even blink.

Budou falls back to the ground on her back and slides away from the shore.

When she gets back up, Kali is right on top of her, smiling and saying "this lake now belongs to me. If you insist on fighting, then I'll just have to kill you."

Budou tries to get up, so Kali grabs the neck of her shadow, strangling the little bat with a smile.

Budou struggles to escape, but she quickly finds herself out of energy, her wings slowly dropping down along with her limbs.

Her consciousness drifts into darkness, and all she can hear is Kali's evil cackling, and then a light shines so bright, it makes Kali scream in pain and release the bat youkai.

Budou coughs as her air returns to her, and when she looks at the light that's causing Kali so much pain, she gasps and exclaims "no, it can't be!"

She narrows her eyes, focusing on the light, then gasps again, opening her eyes up and letting a tear escape her as she whispers "Phredia..."

The tiny elf fairy emanates a powerful light the burns Kali's eyes, and at the same time, she unleashes a hell of multi-colored petal bullets, blasting Kali out of the sky and letting her fall to the water.

After waiting for a moment, Phredia expels some air, the light around her dims, then she smiles as she slowly flies back to Budou.

The little youkai starts to cry, her eyes turn violet again, then she says "but... you were gone! Phredia, is that really you!"

Phredia gets closer to Budou and kisses her forehead, then nods.

Budou start to sob, grabs the fairy and gives her a tight hug, saying "I thought you were gone! I thought you were gone forever!"

Phredia escapes Budou's grasp and flies up to the sky, and before Budou can ask, Kali flies out of the water, screaming in rage.

She takes a few deep breaths, then shouts "Kimi is gone, now this lake belongs to ME! I'm not gonna let some weak little fairy beat me like that!"

A thin hand with thin and long fingers grabs Kali by the back of her head, then tosses her away to the trees, and a raspy and sinister voice says "then I guess the lake now belongs to me!"

Budou's eyes turn aquamarine once more as she stares at the mysterious creature, and in an angry tone of voice she says "vampire!"

The creature wears no clothes, his skin seems like it's made of a shiny brown armor, hairless with pointy ears, orange vampire eyes, abnormally large fangs, and large metal-like wings.

He stares at Budou, then smile and says "the tiny bat that plays vampire hunter. I'm going to enjoy killing you."

The vampire hisses and lunges straight to Budou, who bravely stands firm on her feet and readies herself to attack, however Ail comes from under the water and grabs the vampire by his leg, then pulls him away from Budou.

He stares with fury at the vampire as it recovers in mid-air and starts to hover in place, then he looks at Budou with a serious and determined look, then nods at Phredia.

Meiling, Koakuma and Koishi come running from the mansion straight to where Budou is, and when they spot the vampire, Koakuma stops next to Budou, and with a frightful voice she ask "what should we do?"

Meiling glares at the creature and says "keep them safe. Time for me to put my training to action."

Meiling rushes toward the shore, but Phredia flies in front of her, then raises her hand, creating a transparent wall with orange flames inside.

Meiling shouts "let me through! I have to beat that thing!"

Phredia points at her own two eyes, then points at the vampire.

Meiling growls, but Koishi calms her down by saying "she means for us to watch."

Koishi points at the water, and there, standing right on the lake water, looking angrily toward the deformed creature, is Ail.

Meiling asks "but what can he do? He can't use his powers like that!"

Phredia lets out a whisper to get Meiling's attention, then points to her eyes again, then back at the vampire.

Inside the barrier, Ail starts to run around on the water, his feet splashing at every step.

The vampire screeches and shouts "I don't know who the hell do you think you are, human, but challenging a vampire without weapons is suicidal! And I'll be more than delighted to show you... WHY!"

The vampire seems to power himself up, a strange sickly green aura surrounding him.

Ail continues to run toward him, and at the very last step, he jumps up and a staff made entirely out of light appears on his right hand, materializing along with the blessed bracelet on his wrist.

From outside, Budou gasps and whispers "papa? I-is he... back too?"

Ail swings the weapon with great force, taking advantage of the vampire's surprise, striking him on the neck, the shoulder, and the back.

The vampire recovers again, then swings his claws with rage, trailing red bands along them, the bands turning into tiny red danmaku orbs that strike Ail on his abdomen.

Ail falls on the water, but quickly comes back up and stands on his feet on the water, then runs after the fleeing vampire.

From outside, Budou shouts "fight, you cowardly monster!"

The vampire quickly finds out the wall made by Phredia prevents him from going too far from the spectators sights, no matter how far or how high he flies.

He roars in anger and says "I'll be DAMNED the day I flee form a mere HUMAN!"

He swoops down toward Ail and tackles him hard, sending him skidding on the water, but Ail flips his legs and skates the water until he's back up straight, however she takes the momentum and continues to skate with speed toward the creature, summoning the light staff at the last moment and striking its abdomen, then its head, sending him plunging to the water.

Meiling exclaims "it's over!"

Koishi replies "not by a long-shot!"

The vampire rises from the water, screeching with rage, then straightens his wings, making them look like blades as he swoops down to Ail, threatening to cut him with them.

Ail manages to move so the vampire only tackles him again, however when he recovers this time, he stands in place and stares at the creature.

The vampire laughs and says "that's right. Give up and let me finish you quickly."

To everyone's surprise, a pair of vampire wings grow out of Ail's back, ripping a hole on the back of the pink shirt Sanae has made him wear all this time, then flies up to meet the with the creature.

Budou gasps and says "va... vampire? Papa is a vampire!"

She growls and shouts "NO! This can't be!"

Koishi embraces Budou, forcing her to sit down, then whispers "watch closer, Budou. This is something else. Just watch and you'll understand."

Budou manages to calm down and turns her sight to the battle, though still feeling a little angry.

The vampire hisses and shouts "how dare you mock vampires with those things! I'll make you pay dearly!"

The vampire roars as he launches straight at Ail, who veers to the left and uses the magical claw on his left hand to grab one of the vampire's wings and rip it off, sending the monstrous creature straight down to the water.

He rushes down to meet the monster, and right after he lands on the water, he takes the shape of a wolf tengu, looking like a brown male version of Momiji.

The staff on his right hand turns to a large sword, just like Momiji's, and just as the vampire is in range, Ail swings the blade of light and cuts off the creature's left shoulder, making it scream in pain, and before the monster plunges into the water again, the bracelet on Ail's wrist glows blue, and somehow summons Cirno to Ail, instinctively freezing the water just as the vampire touches it, freezing half of him in place.

Ail's light blade turns to a smaller blade like Youmu's, then Ail swings it rapidly, leaving trails of light in its path.

The vampire's body turns to violet flames, and before he turns to ashes, his voice echoes "I was... invincible."

Ail slowly turns back to his regular shape, and both the golden bracelet and weapon of light disappear as he walks toward Budou with a frightened and concerned face.

Koishi holds Budou, who trembles in fear of Ail, thinking "what is this! What going on with papa? Is that really him! Did we pick the wrong person? Someone please tell me, what's going on!"

Ail reaches the shore just as Phredia calls off her wall of light, then continues to walk straight at Budou, Phredia taking a seat on his left shoulder.

Koishi whispers "he's here, Budou. Look, he's worried about you. Come on, stand up."

Budou trembles violently and is unable to look up to Ail, so he kneels down and tries to look into her eyes.

She turns her face away with a sudden whimper, scaring Ail and surprising Phredia.

Koakuma sighs, then says out loud "little girl, look at him. Just look at him and let him know you are ok."

Budou trembles and whimpers as she slowly turns her face back to Ail.

At first, her fear grows inside her heart, but when she looks at Phredia's tender smile, sitting there on Ail's shoulder, the fear slowly subdues, then she stares back at Ail with curiosity.

Regaining her voice, she asks "papa, is that really you?"

Phredia jumps out of Ail's shoulder and flies to Budou's face, then gives her a kiss on the nose and quickly flies back inside the little bat's heart.

At first, Budou is very surprised, but she suddenly understands what's happening, then places a hand on her chest and whispers "thank you, Phredia. I understand."

Budou looks at Ail, then says "I'll get mama and Hakurei sis. We'll meet you there."

Ail blows a puff of air, bows to Budou, then runs toward the water, grabs Lily White from Meiling's arms, then flies away.

Meiling exclaims "wait, what's going on! That fairy needs help!"

Budou raises her tiny hand to Meiling, then says "that's what he's doing. Miss Meiling, please tell miss Sakuya we'll be just fine."

Koakuma asks "wait, what's going on! Are you leaving, just like that?"

Budou looks at Koishi, nods, then asks "c-can you come with me? I'm a little bit scared to go alone."

Koishi smiles and nods, then says "I certainly want to see where this is going!"

Meiling looks confused and worried, so in order to calm her down, Budou says "don't worry, miss Meiling. I'm going straight to mama Sanny. Thank you for taking care of us today, miss Meiling, miss Koakuma."

With that, Budou and Koishi take flight, then head straight toward the Moriya Shrine.

After they leave, Koakuma comments "what a day."

Meiling sighs and says "well, I hope things settle down around here."

From the mansion, Remilia shouts "is he gone!"

Back at Eintei, Eirin walks out of the mansion and looks around for any signs of Rika.

When she scans the whole area, she sighs and says out loud "she's gone, my princess. I'm going back to the lab."

From inside, Kaguya replies "alright~! I'm going to paint today, so please don't bother me! Now, Inaba, hold still while I paint a beautiful landscape!"

From the room, Reisen can be heard crying "but I don't want a landscape on my back!"

Eirin sighs in defeat, then says "Tewi, could you come and help me a moment? I promise, no experiments today. I'm not in the mood."

Tewi stares suspiciously at Eirin, then points at her and says "fine, but the first glint I see and I'm outta there."

The moment Eirin enters her clinic, she hears a man's voice, saying "well, it's not so bad. And she did take me out of that bottle."

Eirin whispers to Tewi "there's someone here."

Tewi raises her ear, then they hear Rika replying "well, as long as you're happy, then it's alright!"

Eirin pulls out her bow and arrows and says "seems we'll have to do this by force after all. *sigh* I was hoping it didn't have to be this way, but..."

Tewi grumbles "sure, just cuz the princess said so."

Eirin taps Tewi's head, and when Tewi looks up to protest, she notices the sad, hesitant expression in Eirin's face.

Slowly, they both head toward the back of the clinic, where the voices are coming from.

Rika saying "I'll bring you some of my hot-pot next time. I guarantee you'll love it.", then the man's voice replying "please, you're gonna spoil me, miss."

Hatate adds "this is so amazing!", her voice accompanied by many clicks and flashes.

In one sudden move, Eirin kicks the door hard, forgetting it opens the other way and groans in pain.

Tewi sweats and says "err, let me."

Tewi pulls open the door and finds Rika and Hatate sitting on the ground in front of the creature Eirin stole from Makai a while ago.

The creature has grown a pair of arms now, and is the size of a human child.

He blinks his large eye and says "well, miss Eirin, little Tewi, what's the matter?"

Tewi shrugs and points at Eirin behind her, who's rolling on the ground and holding on to her leg, crying "ooh, my ankle! How the hell did this happen?"

Rika springs to her feet, gasping in horror, saying "miss Eirin, please hold on!"

Rika rushes to Eirin and helps her up, then takes her to one of the beds, whispering "shh, it's alright, it's ok. I'll take care of that!"

Moments later, Eirin sits on the bed with an angry and disappointed expression, while Rika finishes bandaging her foot, saying "there you go, miss Eirin. Good as new."

Eirin sighs, the anger leaving her face, but the disappointment still there, then says "thanks. That medicine should have me cured by tonight."

Rika smiles and giggles as she gets up, Tewi and Hatate standing next to the green creature, all looking at Eirin with a bit of concern.

Eirin extends her arm and grabs Rika's with force, then says "I'm sorry about earlier. But when my princess orders something, I have to obey, so... please don't take it personal. I know what a good girl you really are."

Rika's wings involuntarily flap as she closes her eyes and smiles angelically, her sword's diamond glowing bright blue as she says "miss Eirin, thank you so much. It gives me great relief to hear you say that."

When she opens her eyes again, she notices everyone, even the creature, bleeding though their noses.

She gasps and exclaims "oh my! What happened?"

Tewi looks annoyed and says "n-nothing at all."

Hatate adds "it's just the heat, heh heh."

The creature whispers to Tewi "that was just dangerous."

Tewi whispers back "more than last time."

Eirin wipes the blood off from under her nose and says "well, unless the princess changes her mind, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Please, miss Rika, don't make me force you."

Rika thinks for a moment, doing her best to ignore the sharp pain in her heart after hearing that, then she snaps her fingers and gasps with excitement, then says "what if I can show miss Kaguya I'm not like my ancestors?"

Eirin looks to the window, admiring the afternoon, then says "I didn't see you. I'll be working here, so I might not be able to hear my princess' call. Please, just don't push it."

Rika smiles again, gives Eirin a light hug while her wings flaps rapidly, then excitedly rushes to the door and says "thank you. Don't you worry, miss Kaguya is not a bad person. She'll understand I'm her friend!"

Hatate immediately rushes after Rika, who asks "miss Hatate, wouldn't you rather stay here?"

Hatate stares at Rika with a courageous and determined look and says "and leave my sister alone out there, like, not knowing what will happen? No way! I'm coming with you!"

Rika giggles, then the door closes right after they leave, then Tewi approaches Eirin and asks "who are you, and what have you done to Eirin?"

The lunarian looks at Tewi and pats her head, then says "I think the princess needs friends like her. Wouldn't you agree?"

Tewi smirks, then says "you're always thinking about these things, aren't you?"

Eirin smiles, emanating a dangerous aura, then says "that's none of your business."

Inside the mansion, Kaguya dunks a small painting brush inside a can of green paint, and without cleaning off even a tiny bit of excess paint, she immediately places it on her canvas, making Reisen shudder and cry out "so cold!"

Kaguya angrily says "don't move! My, what a terrible canvas you are!"

Reisen lies on her belly, wearing only her underwear while Kaguya uses her body as a canvas for a disaster she calls a painting.

Reisen whimpers, then says "just hurry up, so I can wash this stuff up!"

Kaguya stares at Reisen for a second, then says "you would wash off this masterpiece!"

Reisen cries "I want to see!"

Kaguya sticks out her tongue and winks at Reisen, saying "I'm not done yet."

While Kaguya continues to paint her disastrous masterpiece, Rika walks to her side with her hands behind her back and quietly observes Kaguya's painting.

Hatate makes a little noise with her camera clicking away, but this doesn't seem to bother Kaguya at all, as she continues to paint away.

Rika places her hand on her mouth and giggles, then says "my, what a lovely painting, miss Kaguya."

Kaguya expands her chest, and with a boastful face and voice, she says "well thank you. You won't find higher quality than... wait a minute, Eirin and Tewi are out, so..."

Kaguya slowly turns her face toward the smiling Rika and stares for a moment, a clock seemingly ticking away while the current events sink into the moon princess' mind.

Suddenly, Kaguya's face fills with terror and anger, then she finally shouts "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!"

Rika winces and says "I'm sorry miss Kaguya, but I can't accept what you told me before!"

Kaguya scoffs, then says "just like all your family! You are too good to accept anything I say or do! And for what! Because you claimed I had 'superiority complex'! You people just don't understand me. Always looking at the little picture! Bah! Inaba, get this fiend out of my sight!"

Reisen stands up with a look of both contempt and deep sadness, then points a glowing finger at Rika and says "please get away from here."

Rika looks straight into Reisen's eyes, and suddenly, the world around her starts to sway and twirl, making her feel a bit sick, however, she continues to stare at Reisen with understanding.

Reisen starts to whimper and shake, the glow in her finger dimming down, so Rika takes the chance, and with a soothing voice she asks "what's the matter, miss Reisen? Do you hate me too?"

Reisen twitches when she hears Rika say that, then closes her eyes and says "n-no! I don't! I couldn't. Y-you left because you had to help them. But I was so scared! I didn't want you to leave, but you still left!"

Inside Reisen's mind, she sees a woman like Rika, though with larger wings, remaining faceless to Reisen, yet giving her a sense of safety.

Suddenly, there is an explosion and many screams, then this person nods, then rushes away toward the explosions and noises.

Reisen screams "no. Please, don't go!"

In reality, Reisen is on the floor, holding her head while curling up into a ball, whimpering and shaking violently, whispering "don't go! Please, don't leave. I'm so scared!"

Rika's sword softly growls, though only Rika can hear it, then she goes into her Soraogan mode and slowly walks to Reisen, whispering "I'm here, little moon rabbit. Don't be scared. Nothing's going to happen."

When Rika touches Reisen's shoulder, the moon rabbit twitches, but then allows Rika to get closer.

Rika softly says "a little birdie tells me you met one of my brethren. You know she had to go, right? She had to do what she did because there was no other choice."

Reisen slowly relaxes and nods, then Rika whispers "come on. Let's get up, miss Reisen. You need to get cleaned up."

Reisen buries her face on Rika's chest and repeats "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Rika brushes Reisen's hair as gently as she can and whispers "it's alright, miss Reisen."

The diamond on Rika's sword glows an intense bright blue for some time, Kaguya watching with contempt from a distance.

After calming Reisen down and convincing her to take a bath, Rika now stands in the living room, where Kaguya glares at her from a comfortable-looking pillow she's kneeling on.

Hatate is rummaging all over the mansion, exclaiming with admiration at almost everything she sees.

Kaguya glares straight at Rika and says "congratulations! You set all my servants against me. I swear, if this were the moon, I'd have you beheaded for treason!"

Rika kneels to the ground and bows down all the way until her forehead touches the ground, then says "miss Kaguya, I swear, that is all in the past. Please, understand I'm not your enemy. I want to be your friend, like before. Like when I first entered this world, remember?"

Kaguya crosses her arms and looks away, then says "th-that's because I didn't know who you really were!"

Rika raises her body, but keeps looking to the ground and with a cracking voice she says "neither did I."

Kaguya notices this and feels a small tug in her heart, however she ignores it and continues to glare at Rika.

The shrine maid raises her head, wiping a small tear form her eye, then says "I see. So we can no longer be friends. I am so very sorry you feel this way about me, miss Kaguya. If you ever change your mind, you can find me at the Hakurei shrine. I'll always accept your friendship, should you ever offer it to me."

With a heavy heart, she stands up and prepares to leave, but before she does, she snaps her fingers and pulls out her Saboten Stock.

She pushes a button and out comes a bracelet, a small, milky-colored mineral, and a metallic hammer that looks as though it could break in one use.

Kaguya asks "what are you doing?"

Rika places the mineral next to the bracelet and aims the hammer's head between the two items and says "this is a gift, from me to you..."

The hammers starts to glow, then the two items start to glow as well and seem to merge to make one bracelet.

When the process is complete, Rika takes the bracelet which has the stone embedded into a crescent moon shape on it, and presents it to Kaguya and says "I want you to know I feel no ill will towards you, and if you ever change your mind about me, please, don't hesitate to call for me!"

Kaguya looks at the item with disdain and hesitantly accepts it, and the moment her hand touches the item, she feels a surge of power coming from within herself, then asks "wha..? What is this!"

Rika smiles at Kaguya and says "I synthesized this bracelet with one of my favorite stones, a moonstone. I knew it would help you somehow, so... Please, accept this as a gift from your friend, even... even if you don't think of me as a friend. Maybe that old Rika's gift to you, yes?"

At first, Kaguya stares angrily toward Rika, making her feel a little uneasy, thinking Kaguya would attack her now, but instead, Kaguya jumps on her and tackles her to the ground.

With authority in her voice, yet with a seemingly kind look, Kaguya says "you really are an idiot! Even after I treated you like an enemy, you still call me a friend! What an idiot! Regardless of what you may think, I DO have a heart, so I'll accept this gift from you... a-as a peace offering... a-and, um... I accept your friendship. But don't think too much into this! I just think you look so pitiable!"

Rika smiles back at Kaguya while the diamond in her sword glows blue, then smiles and says "I can live with that, miss Kaguya."

Kaguya gets off Rika, and as they both stand, Kaguya says "you may address to me as Kaguya, but only because I want you to see how kind I really am!"

Rika's smile widens, then she bows and says "as you with mi- I mean, Kaguya."

By the time Rika and Hatate leave Eintei, the sky is golden, signaling the sun's ready to set to the west.

After waving at her Eintei friends, Rika and Hatate start to have some casual conversation, giggling along the way back to the Hakurei shrine.

From below, something seems to follow them with great speed, but neither girl notices anything strange.

For a while they continue to talk and giggle, then suddenly Rika turns to her Soraogan mode and unsheathes her sword, startling Hatate as she seemingly slashes straight at her face.

Hatate slowly opens her eyes, trembling with fear, then she notices Rika hovering in front of her, staring with courage and concern toward the west.

When she takes a better look, she realizes Rika is glaring at the two goddesses that trapped her before.

In a fright, Hatate rushes to Rika and hugs her back tight, saying with fright "it's them! The crazy goddesses that kidnapped me and, like, treated me really harsh!"

Kanako sighs and says "well, it seems we now have two witnesses to take care of."

Suwako shakes her head lightly and says "we might have some trouble with this traitor, Kanako."

Rika stares at both goddesses with great confusion, narrowing her eyes as she stares into their eyes.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the forest of Magic, Marisa aims her Hakkero and shouts "MASTER SPARK~!"

A tiny beam flies 6 feet away from Marisa, but fizzles to nothing in an instant.

Mima groans with rage and says "Marisa, you need to focus! That seal has weakened enough for you to at least use the first level of that spell! What's the matter!"

Marisa angrily says "they knew, Mima-sama! They knew all of this would happen, but all they care about is progress; about their goals to bring in modern life! This was supposed to be something special, and they knew it was a blunder, but they didn't say a word!"

Wriggle clings on to a tree, sucking honey that's been slathered on to its bark along with some other insects.

She stops and looks at Marisa, then says "but getting angry at them won't solve a thing, miss Marisa", then continues to suck on the honey.

Marisa is about to snap at the bug youkai, but stops and thinks hard before answering.

She takes a deep breath and sighs loudly, then says "you... you're right."

Mima approaches Marisa, smiles and says "look, let's have something to eat and continue training you in the morning. Is that ok?"

Marisa closes her eyes and slumps, then nods and says "I'll get us a fire going", but before she tends to the fire, she stares at her Hakkero with a sad face, then sighs and places it under her hat on her head.

There is an unsettling loud clanging sound, then Marisa looks with fright at Wriggle, then Mima, both of them looking back with fright.

Marisa asks "wait, nobody got hit?"

Mima and Wriggle shrug, then continue on what they were doing.

A few feet away, behind some bushes, Yuki lies on the ground on her stomach with a large bump on her head, her eyes round and white as she smiles, along with a small spirit leaving her through that smile.

A golden washtub lies to her right, a large dent on the very center of it, taking the shape of Yuki's head.

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Kyo, Budou, Phredia, Kimi and Kali were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

APR 29 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

**A/N:**

**I REALLY must thank you for your reviews, even though they are few. They really help me with my writing; makes me want to write more. Thank you for showing your support, and please, keep showing your support. Keep leaving reviews/comments.**

**Now THIS is a packed chapter. And I actually managed to write it real quickly, since I was so inspired, added to the fact that the reviews I received raised my spirit, as well as helped with my inspiration. Oh well, until next chapter. This one might REALLY take me some time, as it has some details I can't seem to visualize well. Anyway, see you next chapter if the spirits will allow.**


	18. Chapter 18

It's late noon, the sky is dark-golden, and at the farthest edges of the Bamboo Forest, flying many feet above the ground, Rika glares toward Kanako and Suwako, protecting Hatate from falling into their hands again.

She looks to Kanako and asks "why didn't you warn miss Marisa about that gate? Why didn't you tell miss Reimu about it? Why hide it? Why pick on poor Hatate like that!?"

Kanako lets out a simple "hmph" and Suwako says "we don't need to explain ourselves to traitors like you, Onkamikami!"

Kanako quickly adds "besides, what's it to you!?"

Rika's anger rises, though she keeps her calm voice as she says "because of you, Gensokyo, and every other world out there is in danger! Why would you do something like that!?"

Kanako laughs and says "it's like listening to a broken record! You fool, we did it for the good of Gensokyo! In that world there are never-ending supplies of minerals and materials essential for progress!"

Suwako adds "with that, we could bring Gensokyo up to modern standards! Don't you see? This place is outdated! Kanako and I only want what's best!"

Rika shouts "all you want is to ease you own lives, so don't lie to me!"

Kanako glares dangerously at Rika and says "you are in the presence of two gods. Show respect!"

Suwako immediately adds "besides, it's not OUR fault that witch didn't read the warnings. And all for what?"

Kanako laughs and says "because she wanted to help Reimu. Is that it?"

Suwako laughs and replies "she doesn't get it anyway! There's no way that maiden will leave this place!"

Rika angrily says "y-you're making fun of such commendable feelings? Just like that!?"

Kanako says "that Marisa is just a fool!"

Rika shouts "and you are gods, meant to help humans! Not send them on misguided ventures!"

Kanako's eyes glow when she opens them wide and says "it's not our fault humans like her are so thick-headed!"

Suwako adds "and so hasty too!"

Rika trembles with fury, then says "you two are going to the shrine with me, and you are going to help my lady Reimu..."

Suwako speaks louder than Rika, saying "pipe down, you traitor!"

Kanako quickly adds "if those ancestors of yours had only stayed and fight! We could have won that war with ease!"

Suwako adds "hey, yeah. Why are we explaining ourselves to traitorous blood like yourself? Heck, I'm sure you'll betray your precious Reimu someday."

Rika's eyes hide under shadow as her rage escalates even higher, then says "forget about that already. That war is long over. Let's concentrate on now!"

Kanako replies "you fool. If they had stayed with us, they could have easily mowed down our opponents armies!"

Suwako adds "because of their betrayal, we had to sacrifice so many human lives to recover some of our lands."

Rika clenches her fist, then calmly says to Hatate "my friend, please hide."

Hatate looks at Rika with fight and concern and asks "s-sis? What's the matter? Are you alright?"

Rika grumbles "I am going to teach these two a lesson they will never forget. Please hide, or you might get hurt too."

Hatate stutters, then says "n-no, Rika! I'll fight alongside-"

Rika grabs Hatate by her shoulders and smiles, though showing fiery rage in her eyes as she calmly says "I don't want you to get hurt because of these two, or myself. Please, don't worry about me. Just hide and watch. When I'm done with these two, they are going to apologize to you!"

Hatate silently nods, then flies away, then Rika turns to the goddesses and says "five spell cards. If I win, you will apologize to Hatate; you will go STRAIGHT to the Hakurei Shrine, BOW before my lady Reimu and apologize for what you did, explain yourselves with GREAT detail, and help her with ANYTHING she asks!"

Kanako and Suwako smirks, then Suwako says "fine, little girl. Just don't start to cry when we beat you without mercy."

Kanako then says "if we win, you traitor, you will face the punishment your ancestors escaped when they abandoned us and hid away from us. You understand what I'm saying?"

Rika brandishes her sword and pulls out a spell card and says "Oath Keeper", then glares at the goddesses as the golden gate appears right next to her, and says "first you'll have to win. But I highly doubt you will, even with your combined efforts."

Suwako and Kanako growl, bearing their teeth, then Suwako angrily says "we'll enjoy teaching you proper respect toward the gods!"

* * *

Meanwhile, above the Hakurei Shrine, Sakuya flies back home, followed by a sleepy-looking Reimu.

Sakuya growls, then says "I still can't believe you! Falling asleep just as you take off, and 3 times in a row, even!"

Reimu yawns and says "I already told you, I'm fine now! I just needed to rest!"

Sakuya sighs and says "well, whatever. Just help me with these kids. You have better relation with the Moriya Shrine than I do."

Reimu replies "yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time."

Sakuya sighs again and says "and look at the time. I hope my mistress hasn't been too inconvenienced by my sudden leave and tardiness."

Outside the SDM, Remilia's voice can be hear shouting "Flan, come on~! I've been sitting here for HOURS! Give me that toilet paper!"

Flandre can be heard giggling, then replying "say 'please', and promise me you share of cake, and then I'll let you have it."

Remilia screams, then Flandre yelps and shouts "wait, you can't run around like that!"

At the gate, Meiling and Koakuma sigh, then Koakuma smiles and says "Sakuya's still not back."

Meiling nods and says "probably another incident."

Koakuma nods, then both girls sigh at the same time.

At the Moriya Shrine, Sanae paces left and right while staring at Budou and Koishi, then stops, holds her head, then asks "so, he turned to a vampire, then to Momiji, then killed a vampire, all while running on top of water!? Look, I know this is Gensokyo, but even so, that's a little hard to believe! He's a subconscious body!"

Koishi springs to her feet and angrily says "subconscious, not useless!! I already told you, being in that state allowed him to learn how to do all that!"

Sanae angrily asks "and why is that?! Why not while he was fully conscious!?"

Koishi anxiously replies "because, if he WAS conscious, he'd probably think doing those things were impossible!"

Sanae face palms and whispers "well, at least that explains the tail I saw on him."

Budou sighs and says "alright then, now that the debate is over...", she stands up, then says out loud "let's go to the forest! He's waiting for us at home!"

Sanae snaps back "don't you take that tone of voice with me, young lady!"

Budou drops on her seat and pouts while holding back her tears of anger, then Phredia flies straight out from Budou's heart and flies directly in front of Sanae's surprised, face, then places her glowing index finger on Sanae's forehead.

Sanae hears Phredia speak inside her mind, with a sweet, yet stern voice, saying "you heard their story, yet you don't fully believe them. I will respect your decision to stay here, but I will not allow you to call these girls liars. If you won't help, I'll... wait."

Phredia raises her head and turns her sight toward the Bamboo Forest's direction, then turns to face Sanae and says "change of plans. You will all sleep now. Tomorrow, we all head down to the forest. Now sleep."

Just like that, Sane, Budou and Koishi all fall to sleep right where they are, then Phredia places her crystal barrier on the shrine's entrance, promptly entering Budou's heart afterward.

* * *

Back at the Bamboo Forest, the goddesses waste no time and are already using their first spell card.

Before declaring, Suwako points at Rika and says "you can't take on two goddesses and hope to win! We'll take you down with this!"

Kanako shouts "Divine Festival, Expanded Onbashira!", and Suwako shouts at the same time "Native God, The Red Frog in the Fourth Year of the Houei Era!"

Kanako claps her hands hard and generates a small shockwave, while Suwako claps her hands twice, then turns red and splits into two more selves.

Rika jumps into the golden gate beside her and comes out with her wind sword already unsheathed, holding a spell card on her free hand.

The three Suwakos smirk and take impulse to attack Rika, then Kanako's holy logs strike each Suwako in succession; first the left, second the right, then the real Suwako, who yelps and shouts "Kanako, you idiot!!"

Even though she struck all three, they still trail their frog-shaped bullets, all headed straight to Kanako, exploding violently on impact, Kanako shouting "argh! My head! Stupid frog!!"

From below, Hatate laughs and takes pictures, saying to herself "hah, if this is how this starts, Rika-sis has no problems!"

Rika smiles, trying to contain her desire to laugh, however she still lets out a quick chuckle, and while still giggling a bit, she says "Wind Sign, Neppa Snepuujin!"

Rika sheathes her wind sword and holds the hilt while it charges up.

In a flash, she unsheathes her sword and swings it so fast, Hatate or the goddesses can't see the move.

All they can see is a crescent wind wave headed straight toward the goddesses, trailing countless light-green bullets along with it.

Rika is suddenly to their left and repeats her attack, sending another wave, then sheathes her sword and moves to the right to repeat the attack in fast successions.

The quarreling goddesses watch with fright, but stay in the same spot, letting the waves and bullets hit them straight on.

Rika continues her attack for 30 seconds, then her spell cancels out, leaving a thick cloud of smoke where the goddesses were.

She sheathes her sword and loudly says "you see? You are already losing! The spirits are telling you how wrong you are, so do us all a favor, accept you're wrong, and properly apologize!"

Rika suddenly gasps in fright, then Kanako's voice comes out of the smoke, saying "I'll admit we almost blew it, but don't get ahead of yourself, you traitor!"

The smoke clears, revealing Kanako and Suwako completely unharmed, then Suwako says "we've already seen your spells, girl! We know what we're up against. You, however, don't got a clue!"

Kanako chuckles, then says "I think Ail was more of a menace to us than you'll ever be."

Rika growls, then calmly replies "you seem to be underestimating me. For a pair of gods, you sure seem to be a little full of yourselves. What about listening to the spirit of the world around you? The hearts of humans and youkai? What about Gensokyo, your home!?"

Kanako scoffs and says "we don't need to listen to traitorous blood."

Rika shouts "could you stop thinking about that war!?"

Suwako's eyes glow red, then she says "Kanako, let's take turns with our spells. I really want to beat this traitor up."

Kanako nods and replies "agreed."

* * *

Kanako backs away, letting Suwako have the next attack, and while she pulls a spell card from under her hat, she glares at Rika and says "if that ancestor of yours had only stayed. I could have had so many opposing armies eliminated, so many lands would have remained safe."

Rika jumps inside her golden gate and emerges with her fire and water swords, then she angrily says "what's the MATTER with you two!? All you care about is how many my ancestors could kill! How could you devalue life so much!? My ancestors left for that reason! To escape the needless bloodshed!"

Suwako growls and says "now you're making excuses for them. What fitting punishment I'll have for you when all of this is over."

Suwako raises her spell card and shouts "Scourge Sign, Mishaguji-Sama!"

Suwako claps her hands hard, and from behind her, a translucent white snake rises from the ground and merges with a frog aura that surrounds Suwako.

Suddenly, Suwako emanates leaf-like light green bullets in circles around her, all swaying between each other in a tight formation.

Rika sees very little room to dodge, but she still braves the spell and unleashes blue needle danmaku bullets that spread widely and trail far, almost hitting Kanako, who watches from behind Suwako.

From below, Hatate cries out for Rika, who misses her chance to go through the swaying bullets and gets hit hard by 5 of the bullets, making her feel her insides burn up.

Suwako smiles and in a sinister voice, she says "do you like it? Especially made for you, little traitor. Instead of just burning your skin, these bullets will also burn what's underneath it."

Rika winces in pain as she holds her abdomen, managing to dodge the waves of bullets, then suddenly pulls a spell card and shouts "Fire and Water Sign, Embarco Endo no Zeppa Juujishou!"

Rika unsheathes her fire sword and slashes the bullets directly in front of her, sending fiery waves of danmaku at Suwako while cutting through her bullets and slowly getting close.

Suwako frowns and stops her spell to get away, just as Rika gets close enough and quickly switches swords, taking her ice sword and swinging in arcs, making crescent swings and making Suwako go down to the ground, where the ice created by Rika's sword traps Suwako's feet.

The goddess glares at Rika as she backs away and starts to chant, making a copy of herself that holds the fire sword.

Both Rika and her copy rush toward Suwako, who continues to quietly glare at them, then says "I'll make you apologize to both Hatate and Reimu!"

Suwako replies "we'll see about that! RAH!"

Rika and her copy slash through Suwako, making an X of fire and ice that can be seen from the sky.

Hatate celebrates for Rika, saying "amazing, a direct hit!"

Rika, on the other hand, looks disappointed and a little angry.

She and her copy sheathe the swords, then merge together again.

Suwako stands behind her, holding her hands in front of her, successfully blocking Rika's attack, and with a quick laugh, Suwako says "pa-ha-thetic! What a pathetic attack! I was expecting a bit more from someone with YOUR bloodline. But I guess that's what traitors get in the end."

Rika growls loudly and says "enough with that! Why are you so obsessed with that war anyway!? All you did with that was take away innocent live and shed their blood for lands!"

Suwako lowers her head and closes her eyes, then says "we had no choice, you fool. You ancestors could have helped us finish all quicker. We could have avoided much bloodshed, but they just abandoned us."

Rika shouts "oh, is that right!? You just wanted someone to kill others faster! What about their lives!? What about their families, their dreams!? All taken away by that needless war! W-wait a minute! Grr, this isn't about the war! This is about Gensokyo, the pain you caused to Marisa and lady Reimu!"

Kanako takes Suwako's place, saying "when they see the great advancements we can achieve with that small sacrifice, they'll understand it was all worth it!"

Rika shouts back "the only sacrifice worth taking is to protect LIFE!"

Kanako shrugs and says "hmph! Whatever. Get ready, and hit me with all you got already! I want to see your face when you see how futile your efforts are!"

Rika unsheathes her family sword and says "you keep underestimating me. Fine, I'll hit you with all I got! And then some."

* * *

Kanako takes flight, positioning her legs as though she's sitting with her legs crossed, then summons 4 sacred logs that set themselves on her back and immediately showers Rika with large orbs of blue energy, then disappears and sets sacred knives all around her.

While Rika dodges the orbs, Kanako launches all the knives straight at her, hoping to finish her off quickly, but Rika manages to use her sword and deflect most of the knives while still dodging the orbs.

Kanako disappears again, and the second she reappears, she unleashes various blasts of massive green orbs.

Rika gets stabbed in her thigh, yelping out in pain, but manages to quickly pull it off and dodge the green orbs, though one manages to graze her shoulder, making her yelp out again and hold on to her shoulder, clenching her eyes and teeth.

Kanako smiles and says "now all I have to do is finish you off. Offer me your faith, and I might consider this part of you punishment."

Kanako raises a spell card and shouts "Sacrifice Sign, Misayama Hunting Shrine Ritual!"

Various orbs and red ritual knives set up all around Kanako and quickly launch themselves toward Rika, the knifes homing directly to where she is. Rika starts to breathe heavily, anxiety taking her mind, then she suddenly hears Hatate's faint voice, calling "Rika-sis, you can do it!!"

Rika shakes her head and realizes she only has seconds to make her move, so she swings her Family sword to deflect the closest knives, then finds a gap between the orbs to move away, then pulls a spell card out of her pocket and shouts "Rite of fire and Water, Spiral Flare no Makoujin Fuuen!"

In a quick fashion, Rika chants a spell to her family sword and quickly stabs it on the ground, generating a magical circle.

The power emanating from the magical circle cancels out Kanako's orbs and flings the knives back to the goddess herself.

While Kanako screams as she's stabbed by her own knives, Rika unsheathes her fire and water swords and a seal forms up around the first magical circle.

Inside the first circle, she swings her swords, unleashing bands of oval fire and ice bullets.

When they touch the first circle, they disappear and reappear behind Rika between the circle and the seal, the bullets growing to large meteors and ice pillars, spreading around at random and increasing in numbers, some crashing against each other to create a thick mist of steam that hinders Kanako's view.

After pulling off the last knife, Kanako exclaims "that's a new spell! Drat, I can't see!"

Before Kanako can react, various meteors strike her from the front, then various ice pillars strike her from each side.

The goddess screams with both rage and pain, then falls down to the ground after an ice pillar and 3 more meteors hit her hard from the front.

When Kanako crashes on to the ground, Rika smirks and asks "why do you refuse to apologize for what you did!?"

Kanako gets up from the ground, grunting in pain, then shouts "we did NOTHING wrong! We only helped that witch!"

Suwako steps in and asks "and why are you so upset about that? Gensokyo's always in danger due to its chaotic nature!"

Rika's rage escalates and tears of fury fills her face as she shouts "You two just don't understand! Gensokyo is already a great place to live. Nature, the magic that keeps us, you and the youkai alive! You betrayed my lady's trust when you tried to open a portal to another paradise, and for what!? Because you don't like it here!? Because you miss technology!? You are free to leave!"

Kanako and Suwako look at each other in surprise, then scowl at Rika, but before they can speak, Rika's tears dry up as she says "you don't know the sacrifice she has to go through, the burden of this job to protect this land she loves so much! Besides, you yourself said so once, didn't you, miss Suwako. Nature provides. Well, we're surrounded by nature!"

Suwako twitches, her eyes open wide, but Kanako snaps her out of her thoughts when she says "traitorous blood will say anything to justify itself!"

Suwako glares back at Rika, then says "hmph! You're right, Kanako."

Rika's anger escalates to new heights, her eyes glowing with righteous fury, yet she manages to keep a cool face and a calm voice, and says "again with that war. You two can't think of anything else but your own selfish desires, can you?"

* * *

Night has crept over while they battle, a beautiful full moon illuminating the bamboo forest with an eerily soothing blue light.

Suwako's eyes glow blue under the darkness as she glares at Rika, anger creeping into her heart after listening to Rika's words.

She approaches Kanako and whispers "we'll attack together. You from the left, I'll take the right."

Kanako nods, then positions herself to the farthest left, while Suwako takes the right, then Suwako says "you don't understand anything, Onkamikami. When our plans see fruition, everyone, even Reimu, will be glad we did what we did. As for you, the first I'll do is take that horrible mouth of yours and wash it with soap!"

Rika sheathes all 3 swords and says "it's a pity I couldn't read the book Patchy lent me, but I believe her teachings will suffice for now."

Kanako sighs, then pulls out a spell card and shouts "Heaven's Stream, Miracle of Otensui!"

At the same time, Suwako pulls a spell card and shouts "Native God, Lord Long-Arms and Long-Legs!"

Kanako is surrounded by 6 streams of light that come from the sky, all showering petals and shard bullets in different formations and speeds, all headed straight to Rika, who takes flight at that moment.

Suwako extends her arms and legs, and from her limbs, trailing colorful beams rush straight to Rika, who dodges them by quickly swaying left and right.

Before Kanako's bullets reach Rika, and join with Suwako's beams, Rika shouts "HATATE! Stay behind me and whatever you do, DO NOT touch the ground!"

From below, Hatate obediently rushes behind Rika's position and sits on the tallest tree branch she can find, then waves and shouts "go get'em sis!"

Rika glares at the goddesses, trembling with rage, and says "I know you don't really give a damn, but I am so angry at you right now! If you won't see the light, then do enjoy the darkness... Water and Darkness Sign, Cocytus: Gessenkohou!"

Rika grabs the hilt of her water sword and begins to charge it with energy, and while she does this, Kanako's and Suwako's bullets finally reach her and hit her hard, however in her state of rage she wills herself to take on each and every bullet, wherever they may strike, and simply sucks in the pain.

After finally charging the sword with much power, she unsheathes it and swings it, summoning a tidal wave that covers a large area underneath herself and the goddesses, creating a magical lake.

Hatate watches with awe and exclaims "whoa! Sis made a whole lake! But what for?"

Kanako and Suwako intensify their attack, Kanako shouting "take her out now!"

Suwako shouts back "I know, I know! Kanako, where the HELL did she get this much power!?"

Kanako shouts back "I don't know! Just keep at it, we need to knock her out NOW!"

Rika grabs the hilt of her family sword with her other hand and begins to charge it with dark energy, taking on the goddesses attacks head-on, then quickly unsheathes it and launches a wave of darkness that expands and turns a large area completely dark, leaving the goddesses blind to everything, however Rika herself can still see clearly.

In a cold and stern voice, Rika says "look what you made me do! You made me so mad, my attribute switched to darkness! And you want to know something else?"

Kanako shouts "where are you!? Show yourself!"

Suwako shout "Keeps you eyes peeled, you fool!"

Rika ignores the goddesses and says "this spell I'm using right now becomes stronger during the night, and the ironic thing is, it increases in power even more during a full moon. Now, enjoy twice the power of this spell and repent as the pain flows through you!"

Rika unleashes many watery waves with her water sword, all toward the darkened night sky, and when they reach a certain height the waves shatter into watery oval bullets, each wave unleashing a random amount of bullets, which also fall down at random, making it impossible to predict where they might fall.

Kanako and Suwako can see the glow of the bullets, but can't determine where to move to as the bullets are already covering behind them, and since it's both night and a full moon, the intensity of the attack is doubled, making the attack to look like a wall of danmaku.

Unknown to them, Rika is using her water sword to direct the bullets in order to maintain a certain degree of control, and forces the goddesses to descend, hoping either will hit the water below them, where the power of the spell is at its full force.

Kanako shouts "we're trapped!"

Suwako yelps and before Kanako asks what happened, she yelps and realizes the second her foot touched the water, and half her torso becomes trapped in ice. Kanako shouts "what the hell is this!?"

Suwako shouts "look up, you old hag!"

Rika laughs and says "and now, we end this battle! REPENT FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! To Gensokyo, to Marisa, to my lady Reimu, and all those precious lives you took from that horrible war!"

Rika grabs her family sword and draws a dark moon that becomes the center of a wave of danmaku.

The real full moon appears right behind Rika, shining brightly and giving the dark moon a powerful glow.

All the goddesses can do is watch in horror as the waves of dark bullets strike them without mercy.

The goddesses scream out in excruciating pain, making Hatate herself wince at the sight of the glowing blasts.

Finally, the spell finishes, the darkness lifts away, the water disappears, and the two goddesses fall hard to the ground, groaning and rolling in pain.

As Rika slowly floats back down, Suwako says "Ka-Kanako. We... weren't careful."

Kanako groans and manages to sit up and says "I... I can keep going, and I still have two more spells!"

Suwako manages to sit up, letting her hat drop to the ground as she rubs her head and says "m-me too. She only has one left!"

Kanako looks at Rika, whose eyes hide under a dark shadow as she stares at them, then says "dammit! She's supposed to be weaker than Ail! How can we beat her now!?"

Rika suddenly drops to her knees, the pain from taking on all those bullets reaches her, coursing through her entire body like needles through her bloodstream.

She starts to shake, hugging herself and bending her body, then thinks "I was too careless! Now I can't even move! They are recovering... as expected from a pair of gods!"

Kanako smirks and says "in the end, she's only mortal. Suwako!"

Suwako finally stands up and says "another unison attack, Yasaka! We won't underestimate her again!"

Kanako nods and shows off a spell card on her right hand, then Suwako picks up her blinking hat from the ground and pulls out a spell card, then winks.

Rika continues to tremble on the ground and thinks "I can't allow this. They have to learn the truth! They have to see the error of their ways! Wait... Ars Magica. It's a great risk, but it might be the only way!"

Rika remembers herself reading a few books on great magic in Patchouli's library, then remembers when she and Patchouli studied a book on the ultimate magic, and the hours she spent practicing her magic and magical seals.

She takes a few deep breaths to accustom her body to the pain as best as she can, then she pulls out a spell card and stares at the goddesses as they take flight and ready themselves to attack.

She hears Hatate screaming with concern "sis, get up! Come on, Rika! Don't let them win, you have them on the ropes already!!"

Rika manages to smile, though the pain makes her frown almost immediately, then she whispers "I'm sorry my lady, but it's the only shot I got left!"

* * *

Feeling a little weak, Kanako weakly declares her spell card along with Suwako, who seems to be equally weakened.

Kanako shouts "Mountain of Faith!", and Suwako shouts "Cu-Curse God, Red-Mouth Mishaguji!"

Kanako surrounds herself with all her collected faith in the form of seals, making the shape of a giant flower, with her as its center, while 4 white, gigantic snakes rise from the ground around Suwako, making it look as though the 4 snakes are protecting the giant flower.

Rika stands firmly on the ground and takes a deep breath, then shouts "Ars Magica: Rensa Hotsudou-Extention-!"

The moment Rika finishes her declaration, a giant magical seal forms on the ground around her, and around this magical seal are five smaller magical seals, each representing an element; water, earth, fire, wind and lightning.

The moment the magical seals form up, Suwako and Kanako's spells cancel out, Kanako exclaiming "what the hell!?"

Suwako exclaims "dammit all! That's a wasted spell!!"

Rika chants for a moment, then shouts "Dual the SUN!", and Kanako exclaims "wait, is that another spell card!?"

Suwako stares with great focus and says "no... it's a linked spell. Kanako, keep on your toes!"

From behind, Hatate watches and asks "sis... what are you doing?"

The fire seal glows and above Rika's head, a giant orb of energy gathers up, turning into a miniature sun, then flies up to the sky and starts to shrink as it unleashes medium-sized orbs all around, destroying the ground, burning bamboo shoots in an instant, and giving the goddesses a hard time as well.

Suwako shouts "KANAKO! We have to attack, NOW!"

Kanako shouts "ON IT!", but can't get close enough to attack Rika directly.

While this happens, Rika finishes chanting and shouts "Aquarius Sphere!"

Rika unsheathes her water sword and raises it above her head, causing the water seal to glow.

Moisture from all over the battlefield is collected, drying up the ground, and all the plants, then the moisture turns to bubbles that scatter randomly, striking Suwako and Kanako, popping seemingly softly, yet pushing them with great force.

While this happens, Rika sheathes her water sword and begins to chant again.

* * *

At the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Sakuya bows to Remilia and apologizes over and over, while Remilia angrily shouts "that's enough already! I said it's alright!"

Sakuya replies "but my lady, I took too long! I'm sorry!"

Remilia shouts "it's alright already! Geez!"

While this happens, Reimu sits on a couch, placing her elbow on the armrest and her chin on her hand, taping her fingers against her check while looking at Remilia and Sakuya with a bored expression, and sounding even more bored than she really looks, she says "really, why the hell did you ask me to stay? I could be home right now you..."

Remilia and Sakuya watch as Reimu's expression slowly changes to concern, then fright, then Remilia asks "what? What's... Wait, what is that? That power!?"

Reimu raises her terrorized sight to Remilia and says "it's Rika..."

She gets up on her feet and walks to an open window, then takes a deep breath and shouts "this is RIKA! What the hell is she doing! DAMMIT RIKA!!!"

Reimu jumps out the window and immediately flies straight to the Bamboo forest, leaving Remilia and Sakuya staring with curiosity and concern.

Meanwhile, at Pandemonium, Mai, Luize, the reluctant Sara, Yumeko and Shinki are enjoying after-dinner tea, giggling and speaking casually, then suddenly Mai comments "you know, I haven't seen Yuki around here for a while!"

Sara angrily says "well, she's over at Gensokyo. Seems she can't get enough!"

Luize looks with concern and says "oh my. She could cause trouble."

Yumeko quickly says in a strict tone "relax! We'll just have to go look for her!"

Shinki giggles and says "really, I think you're all exaggerating. Yuki's a good girl, though admittedly energetic."

Mai scoffs and says "more like an annoying wart!"

Yumeko can't help but laugh, then clears her throat, regaining her composure, then says "admit it! You miss her!"

Mai gasps and flaps her small angel wings, saying "I do not!"

While the girls argue some more, Shinki giggles and raises her teacup, pressing it against her lips, then suddenly lets it drop to the ground, getting the attention of everyone at the table.

Yumeko jumps off her seat and rushes to Shinki after noticing her pale face and blank, terrified expression, and sounding panicked, she asks "lady Shinki, what happened!? What's the matter!?"

Shinki looks at Yumeko with her blank eyes, but recomposes and smiles, then says "I-I'm sorry about that. It seems I'm more tired than I thought, so... um, I'll head to my room now."

Yumeko exclaims "I'll take you there immediately!"

Shinki giggles and says "no, no, it's alright. I'll enjoy the walk on my own, thank you."

Yumeko hesitates, then says "well, ok. P-please have a good sleep, my lady!"

Shinki gets up and bows while smiling, then says "thank you. May you all have a good night's sleep. See you all in the morning, sweeties."

All the girls look at Shinki with concern, but wave back at her and wish her a good night as well.

After arriving to her room, Shinki closes the door and immediately start to sob.

She slowly walks to her bed, then drops on her knees right beside it, then whispers with a cracking voice "Rika, why are you dying?"

* * *

Back at the battlefield at the far edges of the Bamboo Forest, the destruction is evident from the sky.

Hatate flies around the tree she was using to hide, using small wind spells to turn off the fire that threatens to consume the dried up tree.

The whole area around the battlefield looks like it's becoming a small desert, the dried up plants all burning up, and the dried ground cracking up.

Rika's moisture bubbles continue to punish the goddesses as she continues to chant, then Suwako shouts "Kanako, this is the same as with Ail!"

Kanako shouts "I know, she's using too much power! She's going to die!"

Suwako shouts "we have to stop her!"

Before Kanako can reply, Rika shouts "Shining Gate!"

All 5 seals glow brightly and a large gate of light, invisible to anybody else but Rika, unleashes a hellish wave of light oval danmaku that bounce off the surfaces, destroying anything they touch.

Even Hatate finds herself having to dodge a few of the bullets, as they can bounce anywhere at any given moment.

Kanako and Suwako are hit once each, and already fall to the ground with a loud thud.

They try to get up, but just as the first wave vanishes, another wave forms up and continues to destroy everything around and blowing up on the goddesses' bodies, leaving them just barely conscious on the dried ground.

Rika finishes her next chant and shouts "Prismic Stars!"

Rika grabs her family sword and unleashes multi-colored oval danmaku bullets from it while the magical circle and magical seals all spin fast.

Suwako and Kanako quickly recover, and when they see the next attack they drop back on the ground and hold their heads, Kanako shouting "brace yourself!!"

5 seals form up around Kanako and Suwako as the bullets come through, then they all start bouncing off against the seals, turning into stars that shine brighter than the oval bullets themselves.

As the spell progresses, the stars keep bouncing off the seals, some exploding very violently, destroying the ground around the goddesses and striking the goddesses themselves, and the stars that don't explode continue to bounce off the seals, increasing in speed, brightness and destructive power.

Finally, Rika finishes her last chant and shouts "BLUE EARTH!!!"

The remaining bullets from the last spell stop moving as the magical circle under Rika stops spinning and turns blue along with the seals.

The bullets start to shine white, then spread all around the battlefield, falling like snow and restoring everything around them.

The trees, the ground, the bamboo shoots, even the ground around the goddesses, however, it doesn't heal them, or Rika.

After the spell finishes, Rika drops on her face on the ground and her fire and water sword get absorbed into the golden gate, which closes up immediately after the swords are safely inside.

* * *

When everything gets quiet, Hatate opens her eyes and gasps with admiration as everything, even the burned and dried up tree is fully restored.

At first she can't believe her eyes, but when she touches the tree she realizes it's no illusion.

Rika feels dizzy, her consciousness slowly drifting away, however she uses every ounce of her will to keep herself awake and away from the darkness.

She manages to get up, feeling her head spin in place and the world around her swerve and sway right under her feet, however she manages to walk up to the goddesses, who lie defeated on the ground, their clothes broken and in tatters.

She takes a deep breath and turns back to her Soraogan mode, regaining her composure and balance, the dizziness leaving her.

She looks at the goddesses and her eyes start to glow as she whisper "blessing. Where are your blessings?"

From Rika's point of view, she can see the beautiful soul of the misguided goddesses, then she sees a swirling white energy and exclaims "there we go."

Kanako and Suwako slowly stand up, groaning as they do, then Rika start to emanate a soft and soothing energy.

Kanako whispers "th-that's..."

Suwako finishes "our own blessings. But how?"

Rika takes a deep breath and says "I have copied the magic of your blessings and linked it with my own... I want to show you something."

Rika takes another deep breath, then suddenly starts to sing her own family's blessing song, mixing it with the power of the goddesses' blessings.

Her song emanates an essence of faith, struggle, hope, defiance, honor, love and accomplishment that moves the goddesses to tears.

Her song echoes all over Gensokyo, and all who hear it feel their hearts beating stronger, tears involuntarily coming out of their eyes as they smile, even Yuka at the Garden of the Sun.

Remilia and all her servants, her family, Eirin and Kaguya and the rabbits, and Reimu, who is flying close to the Bamboo Forest now.

After the song reaches the farthest edges of Gensokyo, the land begins to glow, all the flowers blooming, even those that aren't in season.

Even Lily While, who is with Ail at his house, feels a surge of energy, making her shout "SPRING~!" and shoot danmaku all around the inside of the house.

When Kanako and Suwako look around, they are overcome, tears falling from their eyes non-stop.

Rika ends her song, looks at the goddesses with a soothing smile, then says "this is what Reimu fights to protect. This is what you are about to destroy. Can you live with yourselves, knowing you are about to destroy all this beauty?"

Suwako cries "I... I'm sorry!"

Kanako drops to her knees and cries "you were right! Rika we're so sorry!"

Rika smiles and says "it's not to me who you should be apologizing to."

With those works, Rika falls on her knees, and before she falls on her face, Hatate rushes to her and catches her, saying "got you, sis!"

Suwako and Kanako stare with tears toward Rika, her sword's diamond glowing bright blue, twice as bright as ever, then Suwako cries "we're so sorry, miss Hatate, miss Rika. Please, forgive us!"

From the sky, Reimu shout "RIKA! What happened here!? Rika, speak to me!"

Hatate jumps away after Reimu almost tackles her to get Rika, then shakes her maid, shouting "Rika, wake up! Rika, what happened here!? Rika!"

Hatate and the goddesses silently watch as Reimu tries to unsuccessfully wake Rika up, then Hatate walks closer to Reimu and places a hand on her shoulder.

* * *

Early morning at the Hakurei Shrine.

Kanako and Suwako kneels on the floor next to the sliding door, looking on with saddened faces.

Meanwhile, Eirin places a transparent liquid on a thick plastic bag with a thin tube that seems to connect to Rika's arm, on a tall metal pillar.

To their left is Hatate, looking with both concern and curiosity, yet taking no pictures, and to the right is Reimu, hiding her worried eyes under her hair.

Eirin sighs and says "she's not going to wake up for some time, so I'll have to leave her with this serum."

Reimu and Hatate nod, then Reimu asks "will she need that forever?"

Eirin giggles and says "my, no! Just until she wakes up. And when she does, you take her straight to me. I'm going to have to run some tests on her."

Both Hatate and Reimu nod, then Eirin gets up and says "please, Reimu, you let me know when she wakes up! I mean it!"

Reimu lifts her head, revealing her puffy eyes, to look at Eirin's truly concerned eyes, then nods and says "don't worry. As soon as she wakes up I'll let you all know."

Eirin smiles, feeling some relief from Reimu's words, then says "good" and walks away.

Reimu slowly gets up from the floor and approaches the goddesses, and sounding suspicious she asks "and what is it you wanted to tell me?"

Suwako and Kanako exchange worried glances, then Suwako says "we... better go outside."

Once out of the shrine and away from the door, Suwako and Kanako drop on their knees again and bow to Reimu, making her feel extremely uncomfortable and ask "what the hell are you two doing?"

Suwako cries "we're sorry Reimu, we really are!!"

Before Reimu can ask, Kanako says "we're the ones that helped Marisa open that gate!"

Reimu stares at them with a blank expression while the information sinks in, then her eyes hide under a dark shadow as she asks "what did you say?"

Kanako continues "we wanted to help the kappa advance a little more with their progress, so we helped Marisa open that gate."

Suwako adds "we always knew what was behind that gate, and we knew the risks, but we thought we could take care of things after we took care of our own goals first, so we didn't tell her about that!"

Kanako quickly adds "please don't be mad at the witch. She truly wanted to help you."

Suwako adds "yeah. She kept telling us she wanted to help you, so you could be happy, and... well we didn't really warn her about the dangers, so..."

By now, Reimu's face is red with rage, yet a single tear escapes her eyes as she says "do you know... what I had to do to Marisa for that? How FURIOUS I was at her because of that stupid experiment of hers!? The one I thought she was doing for herself, only to find out it was for me, and in THIS manner as well!"

Suwako and Kanako bow down and says "we're sorry~" at the same time.

Suddenly Reimu smiles angelically at the goddesses and says "Kanako, Suwako, could you be so kind as to hold this for me?"

Suwako and Kanako rise up and notice Reimu's smile, holding in her hand the ribbon she usually wears on her head, her now lose hair swaying with the wind.

Kanako and Suwako exchange curious glances, but nod at Reimu and extend their hands and say "sure."

The second they touch that ribbon, they find themselves trapped inside a round barrier each, then Reimu shouts "DIVINE SPIRIT! FANTASY SEAL!!"

From a distance, the goddesses' scream echo all around, accompanied by various explosions, and right after they stop, Reimu shouts "BARRIER! EXTENDING BARRIER!"

There is a shocking sound accompanied by more screams from the goddesses, then Reimu shouts "TREASURE TOOL! YIN-YANG DEMON GOD ORB!!"

The goddesses scream again, then there's a loud explosion and Reimu quickly shouts "DIVINE ARTS! OMNIDIRECTIONAL DEMON BINDING CIRCLE~!"

Suwako screams and Kanako lets out a loud "uwooooooo~!", as a golden beam of light rises from the shrine to the sky.

Kanako and Suwako can be heard taking desperate breaths, then Reimu suddenly shouts "DREAM LAND! SUPER DUPLEX BORDER!!"

Electrical noises and explosions accompany the goddesses painful screams, then Reimu shouts "A-HAHAHAHA~! This is for Marisa! DREAM SIGN! EVIL SEALING CIRCLE!!"

More explosions accompany the screams, then Reimu cackles one last time and says "and this one's for RIKA~! BOUNDARY! DUPLEX DANMAKU BOUNDED FIELD!"

The sound of bullets, electric shocks and explosions accompany the goddesses' screams all the way to Remilia's mansion, where Remilia herself, along with Flandre zip under a couch, hugging each other and tremble in fear, Flandre saying "onee-sama, save me!"

Remilia replies "she won't find us here!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Moriya Shrine, Budou stretches her arms and wings as she wakes up and gets up from the ground, looking at Phredia, who flies in front of her, and says "good morning, Phredia."

The fairy smiles, kisses Budou's nose, calls off her barrier from the door, then promptly enters Budou's heart.

Sanae calls from the kitchen "Budou, come and have breakfast. We have a busy day today and you need your energy."

Budou looks to the kitchen, where Koishi is smacking her lips and saying "that was just amazing!", and Sanae wears an apron and smiles widely, saying "thank you. Now Budou, please come and eat."

Budou rubs her eyes and looks with amazement, then asks "mama Sanny, what happened?"

Sanae giggles and says "it's a surprise! I promised Phredia I wouldn't say a word, but I will let you know you'll love it!"

Budou stares at Sanae with curiosity, but quickly smiles and rushes to the table, saying "alright then. I don't know what's going on, but seeing mama Sanny so happy makes me happy too."

Koishi smiles and says "and somehow, her cooking's improved as well!"

Sanae giggles and says "thank you."

Koishi bows her head, and a golden washtub falls right on top of her head, making a loud clanging sound when it lands on her head, and after it falls on the ground and rolls away.

Koishi stays in place, still bowing her head, then Sanae hurries to her and asks "a-are you alright, Koishi?"

Koishi lifts her head, revealing her eyes swirling in place as she speaks with a wobbly voice, saying "cooking, so nice, with syrup from apples and... whoa."

Koishi finally falls with a loud thud, then Sanae sighs and says "someday, we'll beat those blasted washtubs."

Budou giggles and nods while her cheeks look inflated from the food she has stuffed into her mouth.

After swallowing, the little bat youkai raises an eyebrow, and sounding very surprised she asks "wait a minute! You can talk to Phredia!?"

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail Budou and Phredia were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami and her spell cards:

Wind Sign Neppa Senpuujin, meaning: Wind Sign "Searing Gale"

Fire & Water Sign Embraco Endo no Zeppa Juujishou, meaning: Fire & Water Sign "Final Cross that Embraces The End"

Rite of Fire and Water Spiral Flare no Makoujin Fuuen, meaning: Rite of Fire and Water "Demonic Circle Seal of Spiral Flare"

Water and Dark Sign Cocytus: Gessenkohou, meaning: Water and Dark Sign "Cocytus: Moon Fall"

and Ars Magica Rensa Hotsudou-Extension-, meaning: "Finest Magic: Ultima Activate -Extension-"

Wwere created by Snapshot 2010

Assistance by Snapshot 2010

MAY 01 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**OMG! This whole chapter in just 1 day!!! I swear, my muse is just on hyper mode! I hope she stays the way! Seriously, I thought this chapter would take me longer to finish, since I had to work with Rika's scenes and spell cards, and that required a lot of help from Snapshot! Also, the reviews/comments also help with my inspiration, so thank you for leaving your reviews and comments and showing your support.**

**For those of you who don't understand why the goddesses call Rika a "traitor", you will find out why in Rika's story "My Enlightening Visit Home, My Lady Reimu" If for some reason you don't want to read everything and just that part, then I'll be nice and tell you, it's on chapter 2.  
**

**I was speaking to my friend about the goddesses. Man... I just keep picking on them. I mean, I LOVE these characters, ESPECIALLY when they get perverted, But for some reason, I just LOVE messing them up. My friend says I go "sadist mode" on them. Thing is, I can't deny this. I mean, look at that punishment! 7 spell cards! Ouch! And I'm not done yet, as Sanae still has one more thing to do to them before this Sukima ends. Geez, maybe I'll give them a break next time, and just pick on Satori, Parsee, or who knows, maybe Kaguya. Oh well, see you next chapter if the spirits will allow. Take care.**

**-EDIT May 04 2010-**

**Added Rika's spell card meanings. I forgot to put them the first time, and by the time I realized it, I was already working on the next chapter. Thanks to a reviewer (thanks, really) I remembered to put them in.  
**


	19. Chapter 19 Pandemonium vs Chireiden

At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu enters the shrine with a face that suggest a dangerous amount of tension has been released.

Her face shines brightly as she smiles to Hatate, who continues to stare at Rika.

When Reimu looks at Rika, lying on the futon, just breathing softly, her smile disappears, though her shining face remains.

She approaches Hatate and softly says "I haven't thanked you properly for taking care of Rika for me."

Hatate smiles and says "I'm the one who should be thanking her. She, like, took care of ME."

Reimu keeps quiet for a moment, then asks "do you remember what spell card she used? The one that drained her life like that?"

Rika looks at Reimu, then remembers Eirin's words while she was treating Rika.

Eirin's voice echoes in Hatate's mind, saying "she used a too much power with that spell. Much more power than she has. Still, she should at least have some level of consciousness by now. It looks as though she force herself to go on."

Hatate hears her own voice echo in her mind, saying "I saw her struggling to get up, like, after using that spell card. That's when she started singing."

Reimu's angry voice echo in her mind, saying "just like Ail! Pushing themselves beyond their own capabilities! What's the matter with these kids!?"

Suddenly, Hatate snaps out of her thoughts and says "Ars Magica... That's the name of the spell. Ars Magica: Rensa... Rensa Hotsudou."

Reimu stares at Hatate and nods, then rummages through Rika's clothes, which are hung on the wall besides the rooms corridor, then picks all the spell cards she can find.

She places them all face-up on the floor, then Hatate immediately recognizes the spell card; the one with the image of one large magic circle surrounded by five elemental seals.

Reimu picks it up and stares at it without showing signs of emotion, then says "when she wakes up, she's gonna get it. Making such dangerous spell without my knowledge."

Hatate watches as Reimu pulls a yellow charm with red writing and orange borders, and places it on the spell card.

Immediately, the spell card is engulfed in a while flame that slowly consumes it, but instead of ashes, the card turns to spiritual energy that flies away and falls on the ground outside, immediately getting absorbed and consumed as energy for the land.

Reimu sighs and looks at Rika, then says "I just hope she wakes up."

Hatate smiles and confidently says "sis is strong! She'll get up really soon, you'll see!"

Reimu smiles at Hatate and asks "sis? You're calling Rika you sister?"

Hatate pouts and crosses her arms across her chest and says "well why not. She gave me food when I was, like, dying of hunger."

Reimu stares at Hatate for a while, then starts to laugh and say "what a hopeless tengu you are!"

Hatate's eyes turn round and white as she exclaims "I am a GREAT tengu, I'll have you know!"

On the shrine's porch lie two large mounds of censored, burned, steaming meat.

From the left one, Suwako's voice seems to come from the top part of the mound, saying "Kanako. We really need to lay low for a while."

Kanako's voice comes from inside the mound, sounding a bit muffled as she says "I agree. We are not as young as we used to."

Suwako angrily replies "speak for yourself, wrinkled meat!"

Kanako angrily says "oh, that's it! I'm gonna kick your minced butt! Have at you!"

Suwako asks "'have at you'? What the hell is that!?"

Kanako sighs and says "ara~, I'm too tired now."

Suwako laughs, then says "you know what? Me too."

* * *

At Pandemonium, Yumeko raises her voice as she says "alright girls, listen up! We are going into Gensokyo to look for Yuki! Now I want you all at your BEST behavior. I swear, if either one of you steps out of line even once, I'll smack your butts so hard, you're going to wish never had them in the first place! Did I make myself clear!?"

Standing up straight, expanding their chests and saluting Yumeko, are Mai, Luize and Sara, all say at the same time "crystal, Yumeko ma'am!"

Yumeko smiles and says "good. Now let's go!"

Before they move out, recovering her usual composure, Mai asks "wait, where's lady Shinki? Isn't she coming with us?"

The atmosphere around Yumeko completely changes, her eyes turning watery as she says "um, the thing is, lady Shinki is acting really strange since last night. She says she wants to stay in her room..."

Everyone lowers their heads along with Yumeko, but the maid raises hers, showing resolve to the others and in a brave voice she says "that's why we are looking for Yuki! She needs to come home! Out of all of us, she has better chances of cheering lady Shinki up!"

Mai smiles and says " let's bring that clown back home!"

Sara and Luize raise their hands and cheer, then Yumeko points out the door and says "then let's go and get Yuki!"

All the girls cheer "for lady Shinki~" and fly straight out of the palace, heading to the gate to Gensokyo immediately after exiting.

After they all leave, a woman in a red cloak with gold pyramid designs on the borders of the hood exits the rooms corridor, then silently rushes away to the exit.

Meanwhile, at the Palace of the Earth Spirits, or Chireiden, Satori, Orin, Petal and Okuu go out the door of the palace, where they meet Parsee, who stares at them with jealous eyes.

Orin asks "what? What's the matter with you?"

Parsee's eyes glow green for a moment, then says "where are you going together like that? Why not go around alone, like me?"

Satori stares at Parsee and with a calm tone of voice she says "I see. Yuugi decided to have her drinking party with miss Suika, and now you're feeling lonely."

Parsee blushes and tries to smile to feign ignorance, saying "wh-what are you saying!? I'm just being properly jealous of you lot!"

Petal flies straight to Parsee's hands, then starts rubbing her head against her chest with a content face.

Satori then says "we're going to the surface to look for Koishi. You can come along if you want. Petal would love to have you join us."

Parsee's ears twitch as they turn as red along with her face while she stutters for a moment, then looks at Okuu and notices some level of jealousy coming from her as she stares at Petal, who continues to rub her head against Parsee with such a content expression.

Parsee smirks and snickers, then clears her throat and straightens herself out, and says "fine. It seems you need some help, and I just so-happen to have nothing to do, so let's go!"

Orin stares at the bridge princess, scratching her head while trying to figure out what's going on.

Satori looks at Orin and says "I believe you are misunderstanding again, Orin."

Orin snaps out of her thoughts and says "nya! Sorry, Satori-sama! Err, miss Parsee's coming along, right?"

Satori smiles and nods, then says "though her goal is a bit different, I still wish to see where this will lead to."

Satori stares at Okuu, who continues to stare unblinking at Parsee and Petal, then says "Okuu, you promised to behave."

Okuu sighs and says "sorry, Satori-sama. I'll think of something else."

Satori nods, then they all begin their flight out of the underground.

Satori hears Okuu thinking "why is Petal with that lady? She should be with me. I'm her mother."

Afterward, the hears Parsee thinking "oh, this is great. So much jealousy. Ohh, pretty Petal, you're staying with me, u-fu fu~!"

Satori sighs, then hears Orin thinking "I wonder how many corpses I'll find today? Last time was a little disappointing, but this time... Ooh, boiled eggs. I'm hungry~!"

* * *

At the void between the paradises, while Kimi, who is in her dragon from, sleeps coiled up, looking like a giant circle with rings on the black floor, Ail is in his humanoid form, sitting with his legs crossed while in meditation, his aura changing from grey to white in rapid succession.

From the white gate, the dragon guardian enters the room like a ball of black and white fire, and with a mighty roar, he takes his humanoid dragon shape, waking up Kimi, who appears not to mind the rough wake-up call at all.

While she stares at the dragon guardian, he stares at Ail, and in a calm, yet strict tone of voice, he says "Ail, time is running short now, and there is something I... Oh, I see."

Ail opens up a big pair of eyes that look like the star-filled night, surprising even Kimi, then says "I know. I understand now."

Kimi whispers "the eyes of his soul are wide open."

Ail continues "that world outside of Gensokyo may not be suitable for those like me, those that strongly believe in magic, but... It was my home for a long time. And yes, the people are misguided and literally sunk into technology, but..."

The dragon nods and says "yes, I agree. Technology can be a form of magic."

Ail smiles and says "I don't understand why I feel this way now, about that world. All I felt before was contempt. I hated that world, but now... I wish I could free the people there, but it's not my decision to make."

The dragon guardian sighs with great relief and says "finally, the lesson that you needed to learn in order to ascend, Anilan. You are finally ready! And just in time too!"

Kimi takes her human form and approaches Ail and the guardian dragon in order to hear what they are saying.

Ail looks up to the guardian dragon and says "I have seen what happened. Interesting things my own subconscious body was able to learn."

The dragon guardian smiles and says "don't forget to thank you friends, those two guardian angels that have been protecting you, even while you were in that world outside of Gensokyo, and that most peculiar satori, called Koishi."

Ail looks with curiosity and asks "Koishi? What do you mean?"

The dragon guardian chuckles and says "you'll know when you return."

Ail smiles and chuckles, then says "well, once I get back, I want to visit all my friends again. I really miss them."

Kimi interrupts the conversation when she asks "how can someone like you achieve this? How did you, of all people, manage to open the eyes of your soul!?"

The dragon guardian gently, but with authority in his voice, says "Kimi, it's not a matter of who, as anyone can achieve this, should they truly desire it."

Ail adds "I must say, it's like seeing the universe with... well, brand new eyes."

Kimi stares at Ail for a moment, then turns her sight to the guardian dragon, then asks "anyone can achieve this? Even me?"

The guardian dragon answers Kimi's question with a question of his own "do you believe you have a soul, shadow of a dragon?"

The question hits Kimi hard, her heart feeling like stone for a second, unable to answer the guardian dragon's question.

She opens her eyes with realization, then asks "you knew I was... am a shadow?"

The guardian dragon asks "does it matter if you are?"

Ail gets Kimi's attention by saying "what about Spee, Suwako's shadow, and little Girlie, Shinki's shadow?"

Kimi glares at Ail and says "they are shadows from the gods!"

The guardian dragon asks "and does that matter?"

Kimi feels as though she's been attacked by both Ail and the guardian dragon, then Ail says "I see it. It's hidden from you, but it's there."

Kimi relaxes a little, then the guardian dragon says "you just have to believe you have it before you can see it."

Kimi completely calms down, looking at both Ail and the guardian dragon with the same light Meiling herself has in her own eyes.

Noticing this, Ail and the guardian dragon look at each other with a half-smile.

* * *

Aya arrives to the Hakurei Shrine and lands silently in front of the slightly opened entrance.

Before she calls for Reimu, she hears Reimu saying "Hatate, staring won't do a thing. Go home, or something!"

Hatate replies "but what if sis wakes up!? I want to, like, make sure she's ok!"

From outside, Aya's eyes open widely, losing their iris and pupils, her mouth opening wide like a square with a jagged top and bottom, and her cheeks look a bit blue.

She suddenly opens the sliding doors and shouts "YOU~!"

Hatate and Reimu look at Aya with curiosity, fire rising from under her feet as she glares with those wide, white eyes and points at Hatate while her mouth stays open wide with jagged borders.

Aya takes a deep breath and recomposes, then shouts "you little cheater! Reimu, don't listen to her! My newspaper is the BEST!"

Reimu and Hatate look at each other, question marks flying all over their heads, then Reimu sighs, and with a bored expression on her face, she asks "what are you talking about?"

Aya shouts "her paper is no good! All her news are totally outdated and useless!"

Reimu replies in a matter-of-factly tone "so is yours."

Lightning strikes behind Aya as she winces and gasps then starts to stutter loudly.

Rika moans and seems to try and open her eyes, but then stops.

Hatate and Reimu look at Rika to make sure she's alright, then the tengu stands up and casually walks to Aya and smacks her hard on the head, angrily saying "keep your voice down! Sis needs rest, you loud-mouth!"

Aya grabs Hatate's cheeks and starts to stretch them with force and says "make me, hikikomori!"

Hatate's eyes turn white, as rage takes her, then she shouts "you're dead!"

Outside the Shrine, Koishi, Budou and Sanae land right next to the porch, and immediately, Sanae looks to the two mounds of burning meat, which are still censored, then sighs and asks "what did you two do now?"

Suwako replies "hey, Sanae. Auu~ what's up?"

Kanako says "we've decided to lay low for a bit. Seems we've been causing too much trouble."

Sanae sweats and asks "is that so~?"

From above, a black blob falls on Sanae, quickly accompanied by Sanae's screams and smacking sounds, then the orb flies away, Rumia saying "jeez, enough with stealing my few lines!"

Sanae lies on the ground with her seat raised and her face on the ground, steam rising from the bump on her head.

Ignoring this, Budou approaches the mounds of meat and says "eww, you look icky. Anyway, we need your help! We're going to the black and white one's house!"

Before anyone says anything else, Sanae miraculously recovers when the sound of grunting and groaning comes from inside the shrine.

Sanae rapidly walks to the door and asks "what's that noise!?"

When she opens the door, she finds Aya bear-hugging Hatate, while Hatate is leg-scissoring Aya, making it look like something very suggestive, even though they are glaring and growling furiously at each other.

Sanae gasps and covers Budou's curious eyes and says "miss Reimu, what's the meaning of this!? In the shrine, of all places!"

Reimu suddenly rises from the ground right next to Aya and Hatate, then strikes them both hard and softly grumbles "keep it down, your disturbing Rika!"

Reimu looks to Sanae and smiles nervously while sweating, then says "s-stop with the misunderstanding! Anyway, are you here for those gods of yours?"

Sanae quickly relaxes and says "oh that's right! We're going to Marisa's house, and we need you, lady Kanako and lady Suwako there."

Reimu gasps then says "but I can't! I need to take care of Rika!"

Hatate jumps from the floor and says "I'll gladly take care of sis for you! It's, like, the least I can do!"

Aya stands up smiling and says "and I'll make sure she behaves while you're gone!"

Reimu smiles nervously and says "well, I'm not sure. Can you two stop from killing each other while I'm gone?"

Hatate and Aya nod and say at the same time "you can count on me!", and Hatate adds "for Rika-sis, anything!"

Reimu sighs and says "fine then. So, what are we going to do there?"

Suwako and Kanako are miraculously restored and stand next to Budou, all looking curiously at Sanae as she smiles and says "I promised Phredia I wouldn't tell until we get to Ail's home!"

At the same time, Suwako, Kanako and Reimu asks "you can talk to Phredia!?"

Sanae turns around and giggles, then opens her eyes and when she looks to Koishi, she raises her eyebrow and asks "who the heck are you?"

Beside Koishi, Yuki stands with a smile while raising her hand, saying "I'm Yuki, don't you remember me?"

Koishi smiles and says "she's a really nice friend."

Budou approaches Yuki and thoroughly inspects her, then flips her little thumb up and says "I approve!"

Reimu sweats and says "s-somehow, things seem to be returning to normal rather quickly."

Very suddenly, Reimu looks to the trees and bushes with a serious expression and jumps straight at them, pointing her gohei at the lowest parts of the bushes, and holding her needles offensively.

She pushes her gohei into the bushes and a girl yelps and says "hey, cut it out!"

From the bushes, the hooded woman in red reveals herself, letting some strands of silver hair escape her cloak.

Reimu gasps in surprise and at the same time as Yuki exclaim "Shinki!?"

The hooded woman jumps back one step, her hood falling off, and says "found out already!?"

* * *

Meanwhile, at deep, unknown parts of the Forest of Magic, Yumeko leads the party of girls forward, pretending to know her way around.

Luize groans and says "Yumeko, I told you, we're going the wrong way. At this rate, we'll end up at the caves."

Yumeko turns around with an angry face and shouts "I'm the leader here, and I follow my gut feelings!"

Mai asks "what are they saying now?"

Yumeko holds her chin while thinking, then points to her right and says "Yuki should be THIS WAY!"

Sara and Luize exchange tired stares, then groan as they follow Yumeko.

Ahead of them, Satori exits the cave to the subterranean, then looks back and says "come on, girls. It should take some time before we find her, so we better hurry up."

Parsee is the first one to come out, snickering while holding Petal to her chest, looking back to Okuu, who walks out with a discontent look while staring straight at Parsee.

Last is Orin, who sniffs around and bends her hears backwards, saying "Satori-sama, there's someone around here!"

Okuu raises her wings in alert, then looks around nervously and points ahead of Satori, saying "here they come!", then points her controller rod forward, while Orin drags Satori away.

Yumeko peeks her curious face from some bushes, and immediately Satori shouts "Okuu, stop! Don't fire!"

Okuu lowers her rod and looks at Satori, then says "unyu? But they are suspicious!"

When Yumeko and her party come out of the bushes, Yumeko shouts "halt! We got some youkai blocking our path."

Parsee steps up, staring at Yumeko with contempt, then her eyes glow bright green and says "you are a maid, and are in charge of those you serve!? I'm so jealous!"

Yumeko raises her left eyebrow and asks "what's the matter with you?"

Parsee starts to tremble with rage, though still holding Petal very gently while patting her head, then says "and you're an old hag with hot blond hair and a nice body, and perfectly fitted to your clothes!? That's so unfair!"

A large vein pulsates on Yumeko's forehead as she clenches her teeth and growls "old- Uuu~! You just crossed the line, pretty green-eyes!"

Yumeko summons 6 short swords, 3 in each hand, then says "Mai, Luize, Sara, they have Yuki, I just know it!"

Mai raises her left eyebrow while narrowing her right eye, and sounding unsure she says "are you sure about that? I don't think they're the type!"

Satori drags Parsee by the back of her shirt, grumbling "you really did it this time!"

Parsee complains "wait! I'm not done being jealous! Just look at those swords! How can she have such awesome weapons!? Why can I have weapons like that!?"

Okuu points her controller rod at Yumeko, then says "I see what this is all about! You have miss Koishi, don't you!? Give her back to us, or else!"

Satori calmly says "no, they don't. They're just looking for their friend."

Yumeko stares at Okuu and says "leave the raven to me!"

Mai comments "Yumeko, I think we're making a mistake!"

Okuu and Yumeko at the same time shout "ATTACK~!", and right after shouting, Petal flies off Parsee's hands and flies away.

Okuu clenches her teeth and raises her fist at Yumeko, then says "look what you did. You scared my Petal!"

Yumeko summons various flying short swords and says "return Yuki to me, and I might be merciful!"

Satori flies after Petal and shouts "Okuu, ignore them! Let's go get Petal!"

Sara says "Yumeko, I feel really uncomfortable about this!"

Suddenly, Yumeko and Okuu charge each other, both ignoring their allies' words, then are immediately followed by their allies in battle.

Satori watches as Okuu engages Yumeko, Orin engages Mai and Sara, and Parsee engages Luize, then sighs and says "these girls are insane! I better get Reimu!"

* * *

Reimu flies alongside Sanae and Budou, followed by Koishi, Yuki, Kanako and Suwako.

They are close to the Forest of Magic, when Sanae looks at Reimu and asks "are you sure about this? You know, you can go back if you want."

Reimu replies "she's in good hands. I trust all of them with her. Even Shinki."

Yuki shouts from behind "don't be fooled! She might make her wear pink!"

Reimu, Budou and Sanae smile sheepishly and sweat, Budou asking "i-is that even a bad thing?"

Yuki cries "it's horrible~!"

At the Hakurei Shrine, Hatate and Aya are battling over who changes the bowl of water for Rika, while Shinki smiles and says "please don't fight. Just take your time."

Hatate says "I told you, I'll get the water!"

Aya replies "no, you can go prepare the medicine, I'll get the water!"

Shinki sighs and slowly shakes her head, and while the tengu argue, she kneels beside Rika.

She makes sure neither Aya or Hatate are watching, then bends down and says "Rika, why did you do that? Now look at you!"

She gently brushes her forehead with her fingers, making Rika clench her eyes, moan softly and whisper "m-mom?"

Rika's sword, which leans against the wall under her clothes, immediately glows a bright, intense pink, startling Shinki and getting the tengu's attention.

Hatate turns around but see's nothing except Shinki kneeling next to Rika, then asks "is everything ok back there?"

Shinki fiddles with her thumbs while casually looking away, then says "oh yes, everything's fine, heh."

Aya and Hatate continue their debate, then Shinki leans closer to Rika once more and says "you drained a bit of your life there. I wish I could give it back, but I can't."

Shinki again looks to the tengu at the kitchen, making sure they are completely distracted, then whispers into Rika's ear "but I can at least help you with this."

Shinki places her hand on Rika's forehead, pouring her own energy into in the shrine maid, making her glow light- blue.

Hatate and Aya turn around and ask at the same time "what was that?"

Shinki kneels beside Rika, smiling back at the tengu and asks "what was what?"

Aya looks curiously at Shinki and says "well, whatever. We placed the herbs in the water. This should speed up her recovery."

Hatate adds "and before you ask, we can't, like, tell you what it is. It's a tengu medicine, and that's all you need to know."

Shinki smiles with confusion and says "you mean it's made out of **** and *****,mixed together with ***** while rolling a cat's eye stone and blowing on it with divine winds?"

Aya and Hatate's eyes turn white, they mouths open wide, the lips wriggling while their cheeks turn navy-blue, all while they tremble and stutter while staring straight at the confused Makai goddess.

* * *

At the void between the paradises, Ail, the guardian dragon, and Kimi, all walk farther away from the entrance to the dragon's paradise, until they reach a room where the floors, walls and roof are made of violet energy waves, all moving clockwise in a spiral.

Ail enters first, followed by Kimi, who immediately stops half-way though and turns around when she notices the guardian dragon doesn't move further.

Before Ail says anything, the guardian dragon says "young warrior, you cannot stay here."

Kimi's eyes show great disappointment, but she hides her sadness by angrily shouting "don't I get a say in this!? Give me a good reason I should go with that meat-bag!"

The guardian dragon sighs and says "I can't force you to go, but I strongly suggest you go with Ail."

Before Kimi replies, Ail adds "I don't understand why, but I believe there is a reason for you to go back to Gensokyo. You are needed there."

The dragon guardian takes advantage and says "yes, listen to him, Kimi Hong."

Kimi feels as though daggers of ice stab her heart, her breathing becomes unbearable, and while she turns her head back and forth between the dragon's paradise side, and Gensokyo's side, she lets herself drop on the ground on her knees, looking at the guardian dragon straight into his eyes, then asks "but I want to stay... Why must I make such decision?", while her eyes water and tears start escaping her.

Meanwhile, Reimu and Budou enter Ail's house, then Budou immediately calls "it's time to go! Lily, papa's body, where are you!?"

Reimu looks around and places a hand on Budou's shoulder, then says "stay here. I'll go look for them."

After letting go, she takes slow, quiet steps further inside.

Sanae enters the house, just as Reimu enters the storage room, then asks "what's going on?"

Before Budou answers, Reimu comes walking besides Ail's subconscious body, who still has the broken pink shirt on, and holds Lily white against his chest, trying to keep her warm.

Reimu looks sadly toward Sanae and says "we don't have much time. She won't shift until she sees Ail."

Sanae asks "shift? What do you mean?"

Sanae and Budou gasp in horror when they see Lily White.

Her skin has lost all color, her wings seem to be shriveling up, and her bright blue eyes look pale blue.

The little fairy opens her eyes for a moment, then sighs and says "not back yet", then closes her eyes again, as if falling asleep.

Koishi and Yuki stand just outside the house, both looking a little worried, then Koishi says "if we hurry, she might allow the shift."

From behind them, Satori calls "Koishi, it is you!"

Petal is the first to enter the house and perch on Reimu's shoulder, while Satori lands next to her sister and give her a tight hug, saying "where have you been!? I was starting to get worried!"

Koishi points at Ail, and when Satori looks at him she says "I see. Hope you weren't teaching him to be a pervert."

Koishi giggles and says "didn't have to. Miss Sanae was taking care of that."

Sanae blushes, steam escapes her ears and nose, then she says "I-I don't know what you are talking about, young lady!"

Budou says out loud "enough! We have to get papa and save miss Lily, so let's go already!"

Reimu immediately says "she's right. Kanako and Suwako should be at Marisa's house already!"

Satori looks at Sanae and says "I see. You're going to get him back. Reimu, after we are done, you have to come and help me. It's Okuu and some girls form Makai. They started fighting and I couldn't stop them!"

Reimu rubs her eyes with her left hand and grumbles "one thing after another!"

When she opens her eyes again, Sanae and Budou are already flying away while holding on to Ail and Lily, followed by Yuki, Satori and Koishi.

She runs out the door and shuts it closed, then flies after them and shouts "hey, wait up!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Okuu, Orin and Parsee have the Makai girls on the run and are following after them, chasing them all the way toward the end of the forest, where there are countless caves in a deep valley.

Okuu shouts "after them! They could hurt Koishi!"

Orin shouts "what about Satori-sama and Petal!?"

Before Okuu can say it, Parsee beats her to it, saying "Petal's a tough girl, and Satori can take good care of herself!"

Okuu growls and says "you keep away from Petal!"

Parsee snickers and says "uu~, someone's jealous!"

Up ahead, Mai nervously says "Yumeko, are you sure you know where you're going!?"

Yumeko honestly replies "not a clue! But we need a plan if we want to take those youkai out, especially that raven!"

Luize looks around, then says "wait, stop!"

All 4 girls stop just before falling down the cliff, Yumeko flapping her arms to maintain balance.

Sara sighs with relief, but that relief is soon taken away when Orin jumps from behind some bushes, however, she doesn't attack.

Nervously, Sara says "stay back! I'm warning you!"

Orin flips her ears and says "wait, just tell me, do you really have Koishi?"

The Makai girls look at each other with confusion, then Mai replies "no! We're here looking for Yuki, one of our own."

Before Orin can say more, Okuu comes flying from behind, shouting "Orin, I'll save you! Explosion Sign, Mega Flare!!"

Orin shouts back "Okuu, you idiot, don't!!", but it's too late, and the girls from Makai are already flying and ready to fight back.

Massive explosions cause miniature suns to fly straight at the girls from Makai, and for good measure, Okuu decides to shoot blue orbs as well, scattering them along with the massive energy blasts.

Mai flies up high and pulls a spell card form her pocket and shouts "Song of the Demonic Snowstorm!"

Mai's white angel wings change into large white demonic wings, then she sings a short, cold song and unleashes massive icicles the same size as Okuu's fireballs, while firing thin tracking blue lasers at Okuu.

When the icicles shatter, they turn to small countless crystal bullets that shape a giant snowflake, then rapidly home in on Okuu.

While this happens, on the valley below, Marisa and Mima have a small chat, still unaware of the dangerous battle above their heads.

Marisa sits on a rock while staring at the ground, and Mima approaches her, floating silently to her side.

She sits beside Marisa and asks "so you finally calmed down?"

Marisa nods, revealing her Hakkero in her right hand, then says "I can finally use a few weak spells, but I still can't fly."

Mima smile and pats Marisa's back, then says "you are still making progress, my apprentice. Just you wait. A few more days training with me again, and you'll be good as new!"

Before they can even notice it, one of Mai's Icicles crashes right behind them, then explodes into crystals, impacting Marisa and Mima on the back.

Marisa exclaims "what the heck was that!"

Mima points up and says "someone's really having fun up there."

After seeing the intensity of the attacks, Marisa feels a little nervous and says "oy, we better get away. I don't think I can take on one of those right now."

Mima wraps her hands around Marisa's head while smiling, then says "what a smart little apprentice you are!"

Wriggle crawls out from under the rook, her eyes spinning in place as she says "wh-who the heck tried to squish me, dammit!"

Marisa helps Wriggle on to her feet and says "come on, run! We're in danger here!"

Before running too far, Marisa stops and looks back, then grunts and says "shit, I forgot the ship!"

She turns around and runs to look for her green UFO, ignoring Mima who shouts "Marisa, leave it! Darn it, come back!"

Marisa reaches the little spaceship which lies next to the cliff's wall and smiles, saying to herself "heh, excellent. Let's get you out of here."

She doesn't notice one of Okuu's massive sun-like bullets heading straight her way, threatening to land right on top of her head.

Mima phases from under the ground and shouts "heads-up, you idiot!!", then covers Marisa up.

One of Mai's icicles flies quickly and impacts Okuu's miniature sun, and the explosion it causes is so powerful, it causes Mai and Okuu to cancel their spell cards as they are pushed away by the powerful shockwave, along with all their allies, all screaming in fright and surprise.

Meanwhile, down at the valley, the small craft is no more, and several yards away lies Wriggle, who groans as she slowly gets up on her knees.

Farther away is Marisa, lying face-down next to a small stream, some blood dripping from the rocks she landed on, and trailing its way to the water, staining the small stream.

* * *

Meanwhile, Reimu enters Marisa's house and finds the two goddesses holding on to the door to the basement with all their might.

She sighs and asks "what are you two doing?"

Suwako grunts and says "it's the gate!"

Kanako desperately adds "it almost sucked us in! It's dangerous to try anything now!"

Reimu whispers "just like Patchouli said."

Sanae and Budou enter after Reimu, followed promptly by Ail, who continues to carry Lily in his arms, then Koishi and Yuki.

Yuki looks around and immediately comments "still as messy as ever, I see."

Reimu approaches the door and says "listen, you two, I want you to hold on to me. Patchouli taught me a spell that should reverse the vortex's progress and give us more time, but I need to keep my concentration while reciting the spell, and I need you two to hold me down, so I don't end up being sucked in."

Kanako and Suwako nod at the same time, but before they let go of the door, Kanako shouts "everyone, take cover! This is going to get violent!"

Reimu pulls out her gohei and shouts "do it!"

The second the goddesses let go of the door, it opens violently by itself, and a powerful vacuum threatens to absorb the entire house if not stopped soon.

Budou uses the claws on her hands and feet to stop sliding, while Sanae holds on to a floorboard while holding on to Ail, who continues to hold on to Lily.

Koishi and Yuki stand up straight without holding on to anything, yet stay firmly in place.

Sanae shouts "how the heck are you unaffected!?"

Koishi shouts back "we glued our shoes to the ground!"

Yuki adds "this girl's a genius, I tell you!"

The ground rattles after a loud explosion is heard from a distance, then Reimu shouts "Satori, what the heck was that!?"

Satori stands just outside the house, holding on to Petal as she says "it's Okuu! Reimu, we have to hurry!"

The goddesses use the force of the vacuum to stand on the doorway arc while holding Reimu by her waist, keeping her firmly in place.

Reimu raises her gohei with both hands and starts to chant in a rapid manner, then a large white charm with green and black letters glows as it floats right out of her sleeve.

Outside, Satori keeps holding on to Petal and says "no, we can't go in yet. It's too dangerous."

Petal ruffles her feathers, then suddenly takes flight, diving straight inside the house.

Reimu finishes her chant and the charm flies straight to the top stone that makes the gate's archway, but before it reaches, Petal manages to swoop in and peck the charm, giving it a boost of energy, and the second it touches the stone, the vacuum stops, and like in the beginning, cool air flows from inside the vortex.

Satori rushes in, calling for Petal, then gasps when she finds her.

Reimu desperately asks "what happened? Is she alright?"

Satori stares at the wall to the left and asks "Petal, are you alright?"

Instead of a tiny hell raven's shadow, inside the room is a short girl about the same size as Satori, with short raven-black hair that has a white stripe in the middle, sparkling navy-blue eyes and wears a pastel-blue plaid overall dress that covers down to her knees, a pink short-sleeved shirt, covering her wings is a pink cape that looks like a bright day full of white clouds underneath, and wears a pair of knee-high boots.

Like Okuu, she has a stone on her chest, however hers is Rika's necklace, which out of her own desire, looks like Okuu's red eye.

She blinks twice, then giggles and says "Shatori-shama!", raising her hands in the air while jumping on Satori, giving her a hug, saying "you are ok! We are all ok!"

Reimu and Sanae stare at the situation with rosy cheeks and bright smiles, both saying at the same time "aww, so cute!"

Budou pushes her way through Sanae and Reimu while holding on to Lily, then says "please, can we do what we came here to do!?"

Sanae stares at Budou and asks "wait, why are you holding-"

She answers her own question when she finds Ail's body kneeling on the center of the large magical circle, staring blankly into the vortex.

Suwako and Kanako walk inside and position themselves right next to Ail's body, then Kanako looks back at Reimu and says "whenever you guys are ready."

From Budou's heart, Phredia flies out and heads straight toward the vortex, covering Ail's body inside a triangular white light that seems to connect to the concentrating goddesses.

Sanae enters the room, while Satori exits and joins Koishi and Yuki, and watch from outside.

Sanae and Reimu stand next to the goddesses, then summon energy to themselves, then Reimu softly says "Fantasy Heaven", and at the same time, Sanae softly says "Esoterica, Nine Syllable Stabs."

Instead of actually activating their spell cards, they link their energy to the goddesses' and Phredia's, then the magical circles and runes glow dark blue, and the magical circle starts to spin counter-clockwise.

Inside the void, Kimi still sits between the two sides of the void, trying, but failing to hold back her tears as she glares at the ground next to her knees.

Ail suddenly says "my friend, it's time."

The guardian dragon says "I'm going to miss you, little Ail."

Ail turns into a flame and says "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

The dragon stares and says "well, you learned more than just the holy dragons skills, did you?"

Ail chuckles and says "you can say that."

Kimi shouts "how can you two be so calm about this!?"

Ail sighs and says "Kimi, please, you have to come with me."

The dragon guardian adds "listen, without you, he can't go back! He needs your strength!"

Kimi asks "why should I lend my strength to that pathetic being!? All he does is cause trouble anyway!"

Ail chuckles and says "you do realize, without me, you wouldn't even be alive, right?"

Kimi looks at Ail, then scoffs and looks to the guardian dragon, then asks "can I really come back here someday?"

The dragon guardian nods, then says "I promise you, I'll send for you when the time is right!"

Kimi finally stands up, but still doesn't move.

A white door opens up inside the waving room, then Kimi hears Reimu's voice, saying "come back home!"

Ail hears Sanae and Budou calling "we're waiting for you!"

Kimi lowers her head, then sobs.

Before the dragon guardian is able to speak, she suddenly rushes to him and grabs hold of his spiritual face and says "if you lie to me, I'll come back and hunt you down!", then gives him a kiss on his cheek.

She runs to Ail, grabs him by his tail, then immediately jumps inside the glowing gate, which closes off immediately after she does.

The dragon guardian looks around while rubbing his cheek, then blushes.

His heart suddenly feels lonely inside the dark and quiet void, then there is a sudden roar.

He smiles and says "and already, another incident for me to solve!"

With that, he turns into a large ball of black and white fire, then rushes back to his home with a mighty roar.

* * *

Inside Marisa's basement, a light shines so bright, it blinds everyone in the house, making Petal shiver and hug Satori tightly, saying "Shatori! Bright! Shcary!"

When the light dims down, Reimu finds herself face-to-face with Kimi, and with surprise in her face she exclaims "Kimi! You were in there too!?"

Kimi involuntarily gives Reimu and hug, then says "please... just for a bit."

Reimu pats her back, and like a flash of light, she immediately realizes what is wrong, then says "I see. Kimi, I want you to return with me to the shrine later, alright."

Kimi lightly pushes Reimu away, then nods.

Meanwhile, Budou stands right in front of Ail's still sleeping body, still holding on to Lily, and just stares.

Suwako stands to her left, and Kanako to her right, while Sanae stands in the middle of them, all staring straight at Ail.

For a moment, nothing happens, so Phredia hovers down, taps his forehead, then rushes back into Budou's heart.

A small, bright light enters Ail's forehead, then he slowly opens his eyes.

At first, everything seems blurry, but as soon as his sight adjusts, he can see Budou, the goddesses, and Sanae, all staring back at him.

He smiles, then says "I'm back."

Budou gasps, and even while holding on to Lily, she jumps on Ail, tears of joy flowing out of her eyes as she screams "PAPA~! Papa is back~! Papa! Papa is finally back! At last, my papa~!"

As Ail catches Budou to give her a much needed hug, he looks as Sanae and the goddesses stare with tears coming out of their eyes, then he smiles and says "join in. You know you want to."

All three jump on Ail, tackling him down to the ground along with Budou and Lily, laughing and giggling, until Ail notices Lily.

Outside the house, Satori desperately says "Reimu, please, we got to stop that fight!"

Reimu sighs and rubs her forehead, then looks at Ail. Ail sweats and smiles, then says "my, just got back and I'm already getting into trouble."

Sanae giggles, getting his attention, then he smiles at her and says "you know, I'll forgive you for trying to give me those baths, but the pink shirt... has gotta go!"

The goddesses looks at Sanae with terrorized faces, but suddenly switch to serious faces, then raise their thumbs up at her.

Sanae blushes and stutter, then finally says "I-I was just making sure you were alright!"

Ail chuckles, then rubs his chin and suddenly asks "hey, Sanae? What's a 'lecher'?"

An uneven tune, like that out of a broken music box, starts to play, and the two goddesses start to tremble, their cheeks turning dark blue, as Sanae grabs hold of their necks, smiling with a dark face while her eyes hide in shadow.

As the music plays and the goddesses scream in pain while Sanae bends their joints, smacks their heads, blasts their bodies, and continues punishing them with many other forms of torture, Ail looks to Lily, then surrounds her with a light-pink energy that wakes her up.

The moment she opens her eyes, she smiles and weakly says "Ail is back. It's spring."

Ail hugs the weakened fairy and smiles while he says "I'm sorry Lily, but spring is over. You have to rest now."

Lily smiles back, grabbing hold of Ail's face and kissing his forehead, then says "you are safe. That's good."

Before she finally falls back to sleep, Ail softly says "I promise, I'll be here next spring."

Lily smiles and sighs, then lets herself fall into a deep sleep, her wings turning to thin glass-like wings, her hair turning light yellow, her skin turning white, and finally, a powerful and colorful energy leaves her body and returns to nature.

Budou sniffles, then Ail says "she's not dead, but she needs a safe place to rest."

Budou extends her arms and says "I'll take her home, papa, so you can take care of that incident and come back as fast as you can!"

Ail pat's Budou's head and smiles, then says to her "you have grown so much, Budou. You take good care of her and yourself. I'll be back home soon, I promise."

With that, Budou giggles, then flies away.

Ail suddenly realizes the broken music box tune is still playing, and when he, Reimu, Kimi, and Satori, who covers Petal's eyes, look behind him, they find Sanae trampling the goddesses while smiling with great rage.

The music finally stops, Sanae sighs with great relief, then she smiles a very natural smile and says "erm, it's better if you don't know what that is, ok?"

Ail sweats with fear and thinks "I better agree, or she'll kill me", then says "sure Let's just forget about all that. Let's just go and help Satori already."

Satori sighs and exclaims "finally! I hope things are still under control."

Reimu giggles and says "I highly doubt that."

Sanae adds "this is Gensokyo after all."

Ail adds "come on. Let's go to my welcoming party."

Kimi adds "that's a laugh."

Petal then says "laugh! Shatori-shama looks cute when she laughs!"

As they fly away, Ail asks "hey, anybody seen Koishi? I need to talk to her."

* * *

Inside Marisa's house, Yuki and Koishi stand side-by-side, still stuck to the floor, Yuki saying "splendid idea, you fool! Now we are stuck here!"

Koishi angrily says "well who's the fool who followed in the first place!?"

Yuki angrily waves her fist in the air and says "at least I don't shoot pink hearts!"

Koishi growls and says "alright, you're on!"

They flap their arms in the air, while pulling their faces away from each other, Koishi saying "take that. How do you like that!? I got more where that came from!"

Yuki says "take this! Oh, just wait 'till I get my hands on you! Oh-ho-ho! A head shot!"

There is a loud gong sound from outside and both girls stop fighting while they look out the window.

Koishi asks "wanna go see?"

Yuki smiles and says "after you."

They pull their feet out of their shoes and casually walk outside side-by-side, and immediately find a giant dented washtub the size of the house itself, sitting on top of the two goddesses.

When Koishi looks up, she points so that Yuki looks up too.

Above the washtub flies Koakuma, holding a spell card in her hands as she shouts "that's for hurting Rika-onee-chan!"

Meanwhile, down at the rocky valley, Marisa moans and clenches her hand, holding a rock with as much force as she can, then whispers "Mima-sama.", then falls back out of consciousness.

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, Spell cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Spee, Girlie and Kimi were created by Willie G.R.

Mai's Song of the Demonic Snowstorm spell card was created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

MAY 3 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Well, it finally happened. Ail's back, and Reimu will surely fill his agenda with more incidents. Ahh, how satisfying! Sanae and Budou should be happy. Now that the goddesses went through my "sadist mode" again, I think I'll give them a break. Karma is a great equalizer, and I think they've had enough. Or... do I really?**

**Thank you all for leaving your comments/reviews. It really makes me glad to know my work is actually enjoyable. Hope you all keep enjoying Paradise Sukima, and thank you very, very much for showing your support! Until next chapter, if the spirits will allow. Take care.**


	20. Chapter 20 Pandemomium vs Chireiden R2

At the Hakurei Shrine, Hatate quietly changes the medicinal water for Rika, while Aya dozes off on the floor next to Shinki, who regardless of complaints, continues to pet Aya's head and back, making the tengu reveal her wings and petting those as well, all while smiling whimsically and drinking some tea.

Hatate prepares everything and promptly returns to Rika's side, immediately placing the damp cloth on her forehead, saying "there we go, sis. You focus on getting better and let us handle things around here."

Shinki smiles and says "you are so kind to my gi-gi, g-er..."

Shinki's face gets sweaty and pale as Hatate stares with confusion, then nervously and quickly says "you are a very kind girl, miss tengu!"

Hatate stares suspiciously, then says "Rika-sis is a kind girl too and deserves some special treatment."

Shinki giggles, relaxing as she does, and before she can say any more, the door to the shrine opens up and a sweet voice asks "where is she!? Is it true she's ill?"

Shinki and Hatate raise their heads, then Shinki exclaims "miss Byakuren, is that you!?"

Byakuren looks around with worry in her eyes, then spots Shinki and exclaims "miss Shinki, it's been a while!"

Aya suddenly stands up and asks "what's going on? Why are you here?"

Byakuren pulls a newspaper out of her pocket and says "I read all about it! Miss Rika is sick! I came to see if it's true! Where is she, and where's Reimu!?"

Shinki gets up and signals Byakuren to calms down with her hands and softly says "she's right here", then turns to reveal Rika on the ground behind her.

Byakuren gasps and immediately walks right in and kneels next to Rika, brushing the hair from her forehead and in a sad tone she says "the poor thing. How could those goddesses do that to her?"

Aya stares at Hatate and exclaims "you wrote about this!? And right under my nose, just like that!?"

Hatate frowns and squares off against Aya, then says "don't lower me to your level! I would never have done that! It's, like, unfair to Rika-sis!"

Hatate suddenly gasps and backs away from Aya, then forcefully pokes her shoulder and says "YOU! How could you write about it like that!? You're probably just desperate for readers, aren't you!?"

Aya and Hatate smack heads hard, growling at each other and pushing against each other with their heads.

Byakuren kneels next to Shinki, both quietly looking with curiosity at the quarreling tengu, then Byakuren says "but this paper isn't from either of you two. It's a new paper with more accurate and up-to-date news. It's called The Wolf View Report."

Aya and Hatate shout at the same time "WHAT!?", then grab the paper right out of Byakuren's hands and begin to look at it.

Immediately, Aya gasps in horror, then Hatate exclaims "that sneaky wolf!"

Aya exclaims "LOOK! She even wrote in how our face would look when we read this! How did she do that!?"

Hatate clenches the paper and places it right on her face while reading frantically, then exclaims "impossible! She's got a weather forecast!"

Shinki and Byakuren drink tea while smiling whimsically and stare at the two tengu, then Byakuren says "it's alright. I sometimes like to read old news. It helps me know what I may have missed."

Hatate's and Aya's faces turn blue, their eyes turn white, and both tremble as they stare at Byakuren, then Aya says "thi-this is..."

Hatate finishes "so unfair!"

On the newspaper, under the name "The Wolf View Report", is the name "Momiji Inubashiri" as main reporter, and further ahead it reads "Edited by Nitori Kawashiro."

* * *

At the Forest of Magic, above the valley full of caves, Yumeko, Mai, Sara and Luize wear camouflage helmets while Yumeko gives instructions through a movable chalk-board.

She circles an edge with red drawings and says "so the first thing we have to do, is knock out that raven so we might have a chance against the other two!"

Mai raises her hand and asks "Yumeko, ma'am, what if she uses another spell card?"

Yumeko smiles dangerously, and in a sweet tone, she says "that's why we have to take her by surprise! Any other stupid questions?"

Yumeko looks around as the other girls just lower their heads, Mai growling softly as she does.

Yumeko raises her hand and as soon as the chalkboard rolls away on its own, she shouts "alright, let's MOVE OUT!"

Meanwhile, farther ahead in the forest, Okuu draws a house with some stick people next to it, and a large sun.

She points as the sun and says "that's me", then points at the people and says "that's you guys", then points at the house and says "and that's home."

Parsee trembles as she glares at Okuu, then asks "why are YOU the sun? That's not fair!"

Okuu ignores Parsee and says "we have to fight those guys from before, again! We have to rescue Koishi-san and return her home, so we can all be happy, and eat many boiled eggs and probably some vegetable soup miss Satori will make! Is that understood?"

Orin drools and slurps, and after smacking her lips she nods rapidly and says "yeah, yeah, yeah! That sounds like a GREAT plan!"

Parsee stares at the two girls and asks "does that even make sense?"

Orin shakes her head, snapping out of her confusion, then says "wait, Okuu, I told you they don't have Koishi-sama! They are looking for some Yuki-girl."

Okuu completely ignores them both and says "battalion, FORWARD!"

Orin sighs and slumps, but still follows Okuu.

Parsee pats her back and says "it's ok. It's not your fault you are not like me!"

Orin glares at Parsee and says "you're not helping!"

The moment they all come out of the bushes, Pandemonium and Chireiden are face-to-face once more.

Yumeko growls and stances for a fight, while Okuu only glares, then looks at them with confusion.

Yumeko threateningly says "alright, change of plan, girls! We go all out!"

Okuu points at Yumeko and asks "and who the heck are you!?"

Parsee smacks Okuu's head and angrily says "you birdbrain!, it's the girls that have Koishi!"

From behind, Orin slumps and cries to herself "there goes the chance for peace."

Okuu stares at Yumeko again and says "oh, that's right! FOR KOISHI~!"

Yumeko summons 6 short swords and shouts "FOR YUKI~!"

The Makai girls stand still, watching as Yumeko charges head-on, while the subterranean girls watch as Okuu runs in circles, raising her controller rod and yelling.

Suddenly, Yumeko shouts "Dream Doll of the Subconscious Space!"

Yumeko stops time around her and seems to be warping around Okuu, leaving a short sword every time she reappears, leaving a total of 11 short swords, and after she releases the flow of time, the swords fly straight at Okuu, splitting into 7 more short swords that spread unevenly.

While the swords head toward Okuu, Yumeko flies up high and raises her left hand, unleashing a thick, green laser beam that strikes Okuu's arm, making her flinch and get stabbed twice on the back, falling on the ground and successfully avoiding the rest of the swords.

When the beam stops, it reveals countless short swords, all homing in on Okuu.

Orin shouts "Okuu, do something you idiot!"

Okuu manages to get up and flap her wings to fling the swords off, then raises a spell card and shouts "Raven Sign, Yatagarasu Dive!"

Okuu rushes to Yumeko and manages to kick her hard higher in the air, cancelling her spell card, rushing along with her and surrounding her own body with radioactive energy, then tackles Yumeko hard, sending her crashing against a tree.

Yumeko coughs and grunts as she gets back up, then looks at Okuu and grunts "you... I haven't started with you!"

Orin takes a few steps toward Okuu, wanting to stop her, however, Mai and Luize get in her way, then Mai says "if you try to double-team our friend, we'll double-team you first!"

Orin stares at Mai and says "I can't let my friend get killed over a misunderstanding like that!"

Luize sighs and says "Mai, maybe we should stop her."

Mai points behind herself with her thumb, then says "with that face, you think we can stop her?"

Luize turns her head and notices the rage-filled face of Yumeko, then sighs and says "you're right. We'll have to let her tire out."

Orin points at Okuu and says "same goes for her."

Okuu smiles with excitement as she stares Yumeko, who raises another spell card while holding another blue short sword on the same hand.

Meanwhile, Sara and Parsee have set up a game of checkers, then Sara suddenly says "king me!"

Parsee grips her own hair and says "that's the third one! Rah! This game is rigged!"

* * *

Down at the valley, Wriggle walks around with a worried face, calling "ghost lady~! Witch lady~! Where are you!?"

She stops and looks around again, then calls "miss black and white!? Are you there?"

There is a sudden gust of wind that makes a loud whooshing sound, confusing the firefly youkai, making her run toward the source of the gust, only to find out the wind is coming from inside a dark cave with a smoothed white stone on the top of the entrance.

She looks inside it and calls "black and white witch, is that you? Miss ghost?"

There is a deep, loud roar that comes from inside the cave, accompanied by a powerful gust that pushes Wriggle away and making her scream with fright.

After she lands back on the ground, she starts to run next to a small stream, then suddenly trips and falls on her face.

She gets up with a groan, rubbing her bleeding forehead, then looks back and exclaims "whoa! A human! Stupid creature, lying on the rocks like... wait a minute..."

She stares at the body of Marisa from a distance for a while, then decides to get closer.

She sniffs the body, then licks the dried-up blood on her shoulder, then finally exclaims "whoa! It's Marisa! Wake up! Hey, are you alive? Wake up!"

Marisa moans as she slowly regains her consciousness, then slowly tries to push herself up, until she yelps and drops once more on her right side.

A bit concerned, Wriggle asks "whoa, are you alright?", then notices a large gash on Marisa's right underarm.

She stares at it for a moment, then sighs and says "you humans are such weak creatures. Don't worry, I'll get that for you."

While Wriggle rips a long, thin piece of fabric from her own cape, 3 beetles come flying straight to her, one carrying a small bush with tiny white flowers, and the other two carry a leaf with jagged edges, each.

Wriggle smiles and says "we may be bugs, but we sure know how to take better care of ourselves than you humans."

She chews on each of the herbs for a while, then spits them on the make-shift bandage and says "well... this thing stings ME when I use it... so this might just hurt a bit, for a human like you."

She gets closer to Marisa and starts wrapping the bandage with the herb mixture around her arm as gently as possible, then ties it up tight.

She observes as nothing happens at first, then watches as Marisa starts to breathe more heavily, then suddenly grunts and violently jumps on to her knees.

She asks "miss Marisa, how are you feeling?"

Marisa hyperventilates, grabs hold of her right shoulder, then screams out loud, feeling as though the herbs are burning the inside of her arm down to her bone.

Her scream echoes all the way back to the Forest of Magic, where Orin and Mai sit on the ground with their backs against each other.

Orin's ears twitch, then she asks "you heard that?"

Suddenly, 4 short swords land stabbed on the ground right next to them, then Mai sighs and says "probably those two again."

A little farther away, Luize, Parsee and Sara play cards, Parsee glaring at the two girls while saying in an undertone "whoever's the old maid, know that I am definitely NOT jealous of you!"

Luize sighs and says "just pick your card from the deck already."

Parsee reaches for the thin deck of cards on the ground and picks the card on the very top.

Upon placing her eyes on it, she starts to sweat, then says "these cards are loaded!"

Sara and Luize exchange casual glances, then continue playing.

Back at the valley, Marisa takes a few deep breaths, then Wriggle asks "better?"

Marisa nods while taking some more deep breaths, then asks "have-have you seen Mima-sama?"

Wriggle shakes her head, then Marisa asks "what about the UFO?"

Wriggle thinks for a moment, then says "ah, that's right. It's completely destroyed."

Marisa weakly smiles and says "figures. I left my bombs and Nitori's laser there. She's gonna be mad at me, z...ze."

Wriggle stares at Marisa's face, then asks "so what are you going to do?"

Marisa rests her back against a large rock behind her, closes her eyes while facing the sky, then opens them up again a she smiles and says "I'm going to look for Mima. I can't leave her behind."

Wriggle smiles and says "alright. I'll help you. This little adventure is turning out quite interesting for me."

Marisa continues to smile, having some trouble breathing as she continues to face the sky and as she slowly closes her eyes shut once more, she says "thank you, Wriggle. Glad... to hear that, da... ze", then falls asleep.

* * *

In the skies above the Forest of Magic, Ail and Reimu scout the ground below them while leading the way, followed by Sanae, Petal and Satori, and seemingly hesitantly, Kimi follows them while crossing her arms and looking away.

Reimu and Ail get everyone's attention when they suddenly exclaim "they're up ahead!"

Sanae sweats and asks "how do you know?"

Reimu and Ail answer at the same time "just listen."

From a distance, Yumeko is heard shouting "I'll be serving RAVEN for dinner! Alternate Reality, The World Through a Filter!"

Okuu is heard replying "I don't know who you are, but you're going down! Atomic Fire, Nuclear Fusion!"

Satori face palms and says "that idiot is using her spell cards up here. I'm going to have to scold her later."

Petal wraps her arms around Satori and rubs her face against her own, then says "Shatori-shama nice to Momkuu!"

Sanae smiles as she places her hands on her pink cheeks and exclaims "she's so adorable!!"

Down under the trees, Yumeko spreads a dreamy light-green mist that surrounds herself and Okuu, then wildly fires short sword after short sword that rain over Okuu's head, all hidden by the light-green mist.

Meanwhile, Okuu unleashes a wave of miniature suns that melt away some of Yumeko's short swords, while showering a spiral of blue orbs, all crashing against Yumeko's swords and protecting Okuu.

Yumeko's spell is not over, as she unleashes a chain of blue short swords that form a net around Okuu, and once she's trapped, Yumeko raises her right hand and releases waves of 7 extra-large green orbs that explode halfway through the field, becoming 10 scattered medium green orbs.

Even though Okuu's spell is causing Yumeko some damage, as least she can move freely, while Okuu herself is trapped between short swords, so most of Yumeko's orbs strike her directly, even with her small suns and blue orbs covering the field.

There is a loud explosion, and Okuu screams, while Yumeko shouts "I got lunch!"

When the field clears, Yumeko stands victorious over Okuu's body, raising her hands and summoning another short sword.

Mai and Orin beg her to stop and rush straight to her, as she slowly places her sword on Okuu's neck, then starts to tremble as she whispers "you stupid bird. That really hurt."

Yumeko falls on her back right next to Okuu, then manages to turn around to face the hell raven.

Ail and Reimu land right next to them, as they start flapping their arms against each other, trying to continue the fight.

Ail pulls Okuu away, saying "that's enough already", while Reimu pulls Yumeko away and says "calm down, miss maid. The fight is over."

Okuu turns her head to Ail and says "but they got Koishi-sama", while Yumeko turns her head to Reimu and whispers "th-they got... Yuki... ow."

Ail and Reimu sigh, the Ail says "no one's got anybody here!"

Reimu adds "that's right. Yuki and Koishi are playing around Marisa's house right about now."

Okuu and Yumeko manage to look at each other, then both drop their heads back at the same time and cry "uuu~"

* * *

Back at the Hakurei Shrine, Hatate and Aya finish reading Momiji's paper, and right after Hatate closes it up, she says "when I get back home, I'm, like, teaching that wolf some manners! I'm not an annoying brat!"

Aya stares at Hatate and smirks, then asks "ayayayaya, so you plan to take her on, on your own? Good luck."

Hatate jumps on her feet and shouts "I know she's strong, but I still have a chance!!"

Rika suddenly starts to moan, sounding as though she is crying, then quiets down.

Byakuren places a finger on her lips, and shushes Hatate, while Shinki angrily says "please, keep your voice down."

Aya quietly chuckles, then says "you wouldn't stand a chance against Momiji. In fact, because I do pity you a little, I propose we team up against her."

Hatate rubs her chin while thinking, then looks at Aya and asks "you're trying to trick me, aren't you?"

A whimsical voice says "oh, this is becoming more interesting by me minute."

Byakuren says "they are good kids, but a little loud."

Shinki adds "but they are quite cute, wouldn't you agree?"

Aya and Hatate blush as they exchange curious looks, then look toward Byakuren and Shinki, finding Yuyuko sitting right between them.

Hatate asks "and who the heck is this? Where did she come from?"

Byakuren smiles and says "this is lady Yuyuko, from the Netherworld."

Yuyuko raises her hand, smiling whimsically while waving her fingers at them and saying "hi~!"

Aya exclaims "but I didn't even see her walk in!"

The crow tengu stare at the three women, all kneeling next to each other, then all three take a drink from their tea cups at the same time, all smiling whimsically and saying at the same time "oh my."

Aya and Hatate look at each other with frightened faces, then Aya says "do-do you see that?"

Hatate shivers and says "for a second, I thought they were sisters."

All 3 women at the same time, says "oh my", then Aya sweats and nervously whispers "they could be..."

Both tengu stare at the 3 women, their faces turning purple as they stare into those 3 whimsical faces, all smiling back to them, as if there were no cares in the world.

Aya and Hatate hug each other as they tremble more violently, then suddenly scream and fly away to the outside of the shrine, and on to a tree branch.

The three women come out, looking a little concerned, then Byakuren asks "what's the matter with you two?"

Shinki places her hands on her waist and says "it's like you've seen a ghost of something."

Yuyuko walks out with a tray of snacks and says "ara~. Let them be. Let's enjoy this quiet moment while we can."

The tengu continue to hug each other and tremble with fear as the whimsical smiles return to the three women as they enjoy the tea and snacks while sitting on the shrine's porch.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside Marisa's house, Koishi and Yuki have filled up the giant washtub with water, and are soaking in with content looks on their faces.

Koishi opens her eyes and looks around with a bit of confusion, then stands up, revealing her yellow and green two-piece swimsuit and says "you know what? We should go to the shrine. There's a lake there, AND a lot of other cool stuff!"

Yuki springs out of the water, making a loud splash and revealing a black one-piece swimsuit with a diamond-shaped opening in the abdomen, and with sparkles in her eyes, she says "lead the way, my friend! I've ALWAYS wanted to go there!"

As they fly to the shrine, Koishi says "you'll love it there. The goddesses have many secret rooms and trap doors, and the lake water is just divine, all year long!"

Half-buried underneath the washtub, Kanako says "oy~! Get us out of here already!!"

Suwako adds "don't go messing up the rooms, or I'm smacking your cute butts with a paddle!"

From the distance, Koishi and Yuki reply "ok~!", then continue on their way.

Kanako pulls herself with her arms in one last ditch effort, then finally frees herself from underneath the giant washtub with a loud pop, weakly exclaims "finally! I'm free."

Suwako complains "auu~! Get me out or here too!"

Kanako rolls herself next to Suwako and grabs hold of her hands, freeing her from the washtub with another loud pop after pulling on her.

Kanako sighs and weakly says "hey, Suwako. This water should be nice and hot by now. Wanna take a soak?"

Suwako lies on the ground, staring at Kanako with her head on the ground and narrow eyes, then says "but I didn't bring a swimsuit."

Kanako's clothes fly on to Suwako's head as she says "what are you? Some kind of whiny boy!?"

Suwako smiles and blushes, then says "heh heh, I guess it's like a hot spring, then."

The door to Marisa's house lies just slightly open, some plants creeping their way toward it.

Suddenly there are two splashes, then Suwako saying "ahh~, this feels good."

Kanako sighs, then says "all we need now is some sake."

Suwako sighs contently and replies "that sounds like a great idea."

Meanwhile, at Ail's house, Budou wears a small bonnet on her head, while zipping around the house, dusting and cleaning everything she can reach, saying "papa's back, he's coming home! We can stay home, finally! I have to make sure everything is as it should be!"

While she cleans, Lily White sleeps inside the closet of the storage room, covered by a white blanket while inside a basket.

She hiccups and moans contently, then wraps herself up some more, smacks her lips, and whispers "sweet honey."

* * *

Back at the Forest of Magic, Ail and Sanae treat Okuu's stab wounds, While Reimu and Kimi treat Yumeko's burn wounds.

Ail looks at Okuu and says "you know, you should really take it easy with the accusations and attacking."

Okuu nods and says "I'm sorry already."

Reimu looks at Yumeko and says "you caused some real trouble! You are lucky I'm in a good mood, or I'd be sending you back home with a message for Shinki."

Yumeko lets a single tear escape her left eye as she smiles, nods and says "please, don't. I'll behave."

Meanwhile, Satori and Petal approach Orin and Mai, then Satori says "so glad to see you getting along."

Orin and Mai smile, Orin saying "well, you know. Once we talked it out, we came to some level of understanding."

Satori turns her attention to Mai, while Petal hides behind Satori, who says "I see, miss Mai. You are looking for miss Yuki. You'll be glad to know she's just fine, and should be back at miss Marisa's house."

Mai's face turns pale as she flaps her angel wings and asks "how did you know all that?"

Satori explains "I'm a youkai that can read the heart. I am hated because of this."

Mai nervously replies "heh, i-it's not really nice to do that."

While this happens, Orin stares at the shy Petal, hiding behind Satori, then points at her and asks "Satori-sama, is that Petal?"

Satori nods and says "I was surprised too. She doesn't look like she did back in the village."

Orin quickly says "maybe this is her true form."

Mai kneels down and tries to befriend Petal, but before she can manage to call for her, Parsee storms out from behind some bushes, angrily saying "stupid luck! That's all there is!"

Sara and Luize walk out of the bushes after Parsee, both smiling triumphantly, Sara saying "we beat you fair and square, miss jealousy. Oh, hello there."

Luize and Sara bow and present themselves to Satori while Parsee stares at them with contempt and thinks "oh yeah, sure. Now she gets all the attention!"

She suddenly feels a heavy object hitting her abdomen hard, then looks at Petal as she rubs her face on her chest, saying "Parshee. I love you, Parshee."

Parsee's cheeks turn red and her ears flip as she stares at the little girl, then asks "is that really you, Petal?"

Suddenly, Luize exclaims "aww, what a CUTIE! What's her name? She's just adorable."

Sara adds "and she seems so affectionate too."

Both girls kneel down and call Petal, who hugs Parsee hard and buries her face on Parsee's chest, making her smirk and say "well, Petal surely knows who's the best here- EEEEHH~!??"

Before she stops speaking, Petal's curiosity takes the best of her, so she walks toward the two Makai girls, getting petted on the head and rubbed under her chin, showing signs of loving the special treatment.

Parsee trembles with rage as her eyes glow an intense bright green, then she shouts "SO JEALOUS!!"

Ail, Sanae, Kimi and Reimu, carry Okuu and Yumeko by their arms as they fly towards Marisa's house, but stop when they come across the girls, then Ail says "we're going to pick Koishi and Yuki up. Wanna come with us?"

Satori and Petal immediately take flight, Satori saying "Koishi is my younger sister and my responsibility, so I'm coming with you", then Petal adds "Shatori-Shama and Koishi-shama! Sisters are together!"

Okuu blushes and says "my girl's an angel."

All the Makai girls join in, Mai saying "it's not that I miss her, but you might need help with Yuki."

Ail nods twice and says "she can be a pain in the-"

Sanae quickly interrupts, saying "come on, let's get going!"

Reimu flips her thumb up at Sanae and says "good save there."

As they all fly away, Orin joins in, shouting "hey, wait for me!"

Parsee watches awestruck as they all leave her behind, then a tear escapes each eye as they glow intense green, then she says "alright. That's fine! You can all just go away and leave me alone! See if I care!"

Her expression suddenly changes as she snickers and smirks, covering her mouth with her hand and saying "that's right. I'm gonna go to that red and white's shrine and messing things up a bit. This will be GREAT!"

* * *

The large party find themselves in Marisa's house quite quickly, landing next to the giant washtub.

Reimu looks around and calls "Hey~! Koishi, Yuki, where he heck are you!?"

From the washtub, Kanako calls "hey, guys! Over here!"

Ail, Sanae, Reimu, Kimi, Orin, Satori and Petal are the first to fly up to the goddesses, however Ail immediately blushes and looks away, then says "I'll... be over there", then flies down and walks away from the washtub along with Kimi, who says "that was disgusting"

Ail replies "tell me about it."

Kimi replies "you pervert".

Yumeko, Mai, Okuu, Sara and Luize fly up and join the rest, while Sanae stares at Kanako and Suwako, then exclaims "Kanako, Suwako, are you two...?"

Suwako sighs with relief and says "yup. Ahh, the water's just divine."

Kanako sighs and adds "it's just hot enough, and really, it feels GREAT like this."

Sanae sweats and says "for a pair of gods, you two are quite shameless."

Kanako replies "I'm telling you, this is like the perfect hot spring."

Sanae closes her eyes and asks "whatever. Where are Koishi and Yuki?"

When Sanae opens her eyes, she sees empty clothes floating down to the ground, then finds the missing girls all soaking contently inside the hot washtub water.

Reimu face palms and says "this is turning more dangerous."

On the air, only Reimu, Sanae, Satori, Yumeko and Petal remain, while the rest of them sigh with relief inside the water.

Satori covers Petal's eyes and says "I see. It seems our mischievous girls left to your shrine, miss Sanae."

Reimu growls and says "they just can't stay still!"

Sanae squeals with fright and exclaims "what!? They are alone in our shrine!? Do you two realize the damage they could cause!?"

Ail shouts from afar "plenty of damage, that's for sure!"

Kanako calmly says "aw, come on. You are both overreacting!"

Yumeko growls and says "you don't know the destructive powers of that child! She's like a hurricane!"

Mai calmly says "well, good luck you guys!"

Sara adds "make sure she doesn't escape, miss Yumeko."

Luize adds "oh, and don't use the pink ribbon on her yet. She'll run away."

Yumeko shakes her fist at them and says "once you are decent, I'm going to punish you!"

Orin purrs and says "you can do it, Satori-sama!"

Okuu adds "say hi to Koishi for me, will you? Thanks."

Satori sighs and says "Okuu, you shouldn't give such bad examples to Petal. She's a growing girl after all."

Petals asks "Shatori-shama is growing?"

Satori pats Petal's head, while still covering her eyes, then says "you're a good girl."

Sanae growls and says "look, we're going to get those girls, but any damage to the shrine will be taken care of by you two, understand?"

Kanako and Suwako both sigh, then Kanako says "you better get going, or you'll be left behind."

When Sanae looks ahead, Reimu, Satori, Petal, Ail and Kimi are already on their way to the shrine.

Sanae gasps and shouts "hey~! Wait for me! Geez, so impatient! I said WAIT!"

Reimu shouts "hurry up, you slowpoke!"

Sanae shouts back "Ail, how could you leave me behind!?"

Ail replies "I thought you were going to take a soak!"

Sanae angrily shouts "sorry to disappoint you!" Ail replies "geez, what did I say now?"

* * *

Later at noon, Parsee arrives to the Hakurei Shrine and decides to land on the back, snickering as she contemplates what to do.

The moment she lands, her mischievous smirk vanishes when she hears voices coming from inside the shrine.

She bites down on her thumb and says to herself "dammit, there's someone here! I can't do a thing with witnesses... Oh but wait. What's this? Jealousy?"

Parsee's ears perk up when she feels jealousy energy in the air.

From inside the shrine, Hatate says "once Reimu gets back, I'm, like, going after that wolf!"

Aya quickly replies "not if I get her first. Face it, I'm too fast for you."

Hatate replies "I can still kick you down!"

Shinki calmly says "girls, remember what I said. Keep... your voices... down."

Inside the shrine, both Aya and Hatate say "sorry" and bow at the same time.

Byakuren kneels next to Rika and places her hand on her forehead, then asks the tengu "er, you guys?"

Aya and Hatate stare with concern at Byakuren, while Yuyuko smiles and stares at Rika's body.

Aya asks "what is it?"

Byakuren asks "is it normal if she gets cold?"

Aya and Hatate panic and rush to Byakuren, saying "ah, too much!"

Hatate says "we need warm water to bring her body temperature back!"

Aya grabs the water bowl and cloth and says "on it!", then rushes away to the hot spring.

While she cleans the cloth and fills the bowl with the hot spring water, Parsee sneaks around her, and without waiting, she points her hands at Aya, almost singing as she says "feel jealous~~!"

A green aura, only visible to Parsee, surrounds Aya for a moment, making her eyes hide under shadow while her body trembles.

Hatate walks in, just as Parsee hides again, then asks "hey, miss 'I'm really fast'! Where's the water?"

Aya turns to face Hatate, emanating a dangerous aura, whispering "who the hell does she think she is?"

Hatate can feel Aya's feelings and asks "hey, a-are you alright?"

Aya suddenly flies away, leaving a green trail behind her and shouts "Momiji, you're going to get it~!"

Hatate shouts "hey! Hey~ you idiot! What about Rika-sis!?"

Parsee points her hands at Hatate and surrounds her with her jealousy energy, snickering while doing so.

Hatate's eye's hide under shadow as she whispers "now I have another fool who thinks she's, like, better than me. I'll show 'em!"

She turns to the hot spring and carries on where Aya left off and says "once that maiden get back, I'll show them whose paper's the best!"

To Parsee's surprise, Hatate's loyalty towards Rika surpasses her jealousy toward Momiji, or even Aya.

Hatate walks right into the shrine and says "alright, we need to spread this water on her body, and, like, place this on her head for a while."

Byakuren and Shinki reply "got it" at the same time, while Parsee bites down on her thumb, her ears twitching violently, as she stares at the shrine and says "she actually cares about someone that much!? I'm so jealous!"

* * *

Aya arrives to the Tengu Mountain by the time the sky is turning golden.

Aya finds Momiji training with her sword at one of the many stone bridges in the area, and her jealousy soon escalates after spotting her.

She quietly lands behind Momiji, who immediately howls, then says "Howl, Distant Link!", then turns around to meet Aya and says "I am not cancelling my paper, so don't waste your breath."

Aya gasps with surprise, then says "that's no way to speak to your superiors! A-anyway, don't think I don't know about that spell you just declared!"

Momiji growls with annoyance and says "miss Aya, with all due respect, I see no harm with me having my own newspaper."

Aya points at Momiji and shouts "and you're already telling me there's no harm, and so peacefully too! That's it, I'm taking you down, now!"

Momiji shrugs and says "I warned you."

Aya rushes toward Momiji with her fan ready for attacking, but Momiji takes advantage of Aya's blind rage and simply side-steps away, then calmly pulls out another spell card and says "Dog Sign, Rabies Bite."

Momiji jumps after Aya and bites down on her butt as hard as she can, making the crow tengu scream in agony as she shakes her around like a chew toy, then tosses her away toward a hard wall, letting her slide down to the ground.

Momiji sighs, then places her hands on her hips as she casually stares at Aya and says "jealousy is such a sad thing. I thought you were better than this, miss Aya."

She stands closer, then sniffs around Aya, then comments "I see. Hatate's coming too. I better be... wait."

Momiji sniffs the air, then focuses her sights on the sky.

She spots Reimu, Ail and Sanae, along with 4 more girls she can't recognize, all flying toward the shrine.

She focuses on Ail and notices how he smiles so contently as he twirls in the air, then she starts to wag her tail and says "miss Aya, look! Ail is back!"

Aya moans, but doesn't stand up, so Momiji ignores her and flies to greet the party, and as soon as she reaches them and greets Ail, Aya's screams echo as soon as various blasts make the mountain rumble.

Ail exclaims "Momiji, I'm so glad to see you. Umm, what was that?"

Momiji bends her ears and says "heh-heh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Momiji can't help but wag her tail while looking at Ail, then says "you look different. Like a shiny new chew-to~ I mean, sword!"

Ail sweats and chuckles, then says "err, thanks. Say, you wouldn't happen to see two girls pass by around here, would you?"

Momiji points to the shrine and says "they've been partying ever since they got there."

The party looks toward the shrine and notice danmaku bullets, blasts and fires all over the shrine.

Sanae cries "MY SHRINE~!" then flies ahead.

Reimu giggles and smirks as she says "welcome to Gensokyo, Moriya Shrine."

Satori and Yumeko face palm and say at the same time "that girl is impossible."

Petal hugs Satori and says "Koishi-shama, she's having fun Shatori-shama!"

Reimu comments "well, let's not just float around here."

Reimu, Satori, Petal and Yumeko fly ahead, while Kimi and Ail stay behind.

Ail smiles at Momiji and says "I'm coming to visit properly after I finish a few things here. I want to say hi to Nitori and Hina too."

Momiji wags her tail and nods, then says "see you then", and flies back down to the mountain.

Before Ail and Kimi continue to the shrine, Kimi approaches Ail and asks "hey... can I really...?"

Ail smiles and signals her to follow him, and as they fly to the Moriya Shrine, Ail says "right now, you are needed here, and there's something else."

Kimi looks with confusion, then Ail continues "if you want, I can help you free that soul of yours."

Kimi pouts and looks away, then says "thanks, but no thanks! I can do that myself!"

Ail chuckles and says "suit yourself. But my offer stands, so if you ever need..."

Kimi interrupts him by saying "yeah, yeah, whatever. Just stop talking already. You're making me dizzy!"

* * *

At the Moriya Shrine, Sanae holds her head as anxiety and despair claim her after seeing half the shrine engulfed in flames, while the other half is full of holes on the roof.

Reimu smiles as she approaches Sanae, then places a hand on her shoulder and says "come on. Just let it out already."

Sanae trembles as she bites her bottom lip, then suddenly takes a deep breath and screams "MY SHRINE~!!"

From the lake, Koishi says "well at least they are strong! Not like your silly little flames!"

Yuki replies "oh yeah? They are still PINK! That's so disgusting!"

Satori bows to Sanae, followed by Petal as she stare curiously at Satori, who says "I am terribly sorry about all this."

Sanae turns to Satori and rapidly says "it's ok, it's ok! Let's just stop them already!"

At the lake, Koishi smiles toward Yuki, then raises a spell card and shouts "Rekindled, The Embers of Love!"

Pink hearts trailing luminous orbs of blue, red and pink, fly out of Koishi's closed eye and bounce off every surface, even the water, trapping Yuki in a terrorized state.

Yuki raises a spell card with her trembling hand and says "yo-yo-you use t-t-t-too much p-p-pink! Fire Sign, Hot Under the Grill!"

Yuki starts to dance in the air, waving her right index finger, then from her fingertip, fire comes out and she starts to draw circles all over.

Koishi smiles confidently, thinking she can dodge those with ease, however the rings of fire suddenly appear as domes that surround her and suddenly finds herself trapped inside one of the domes.

Inside the dome, intensely hot orbs scatter randomly, making Koishi despair as she looks for a way out.

She immediately finds a circling gap in the orb and manages to exit through it, then Yuki says "big deal, you found the exit. Take THIS!"

The adjacent domes start unleashing circles of flames, making Koishi dodge carefully.

Now both girls find themselves dodging each other's attacks with great care, as to not get hit by either their opponent, or their own attacks.

At the shore of lake, Reimu sighs as she crosses her arms and stares with a bored expression.

She looks to the right, then says "finally, it's over. I'm gonna head back to my own shrine. I'm worried about Rika."

Sanae grabs Reimu by her shoulders and shakes her violently, then asks "what!? What about my shrine!? Who's going to help me with those two!?"

Satori sighs and says "I promise, I'll help with your shrine repairs."

Petal adds "flowers and trees, and all from me~!"

Yumeko sighs and says "after I give that girl a good scolding, I'll make sure she personally pays for the repairs."

Sanae smiles angelically and tilts her head left, then says "that's all very nice, and really, I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Sanae's face suddenly twists with both rage and fear as she shouts "but what about stopping those two terrors!?"

As Reimu flies away to her shrine, she looks at Sanae with that bored expression of hers and says "already taken care of."

Sanae asks "oh really? By whom!?"

From the distance, Ail shouts "you two are WAY out of line!"

He swoops down from the clouds with a pair of ghostly, flaming red dragon wings and tackles Yuki first, making her crash against one of Koishi's hearts, and before Koishi can tell what's going on, Ail tackles her against one of Yuki's fire domes, then flies away just as both spell explode with great force.

Koishi and Yuki fall to the lake water, but Kimi manages to catch them before they take the plunge, then takes them to the shore and tosses them to the ground, then says "there. I've done my good deed for this year."

Afterward, she flies after Reimu in a hurry, as though her life depended on it, while Shouting "Ail, the red dragon wings are sacred! I'll get you for that later~!"

Sanae, Yumeko and Satori all stare at her with surprise and curiosity, then Sanae says "well, at least the shrine is safe."

Ail flies away toward the Forest of Magic and shouts "Budou's waiting home! Sorry I can't stay! See you guys later!"

Sanae shouts back "wait! At least stay for some tea~!", but he's long gone, opening one of his gaps and immediately getting inside.

Sanae sighs, then turns to Satori and says "well, there he goes again."

Satori blushes and asks "are maidens supposed to think like that!?"

Sanae sweats and says "oh, that's right... Um, you didn't see a thing, got it!?"

Satori nods and says "geez, I'm going home before something else happens!"

Koishi groans as she gets up and says "so-sorry about the mess, miss Sanae. Say hi to Budou for me, although, I'll probably come visit again soon."

Sanae smiles and sweats, then says "please, just no more messing around!"

Koishi, Petal and Satori lift to the air and Koishi replies to Sanae "I make no promises~!"

Petal adds "Shatori-shama and Koishi-shama are together again!"

Koishi says "oy, sis. We have to teach her to speak propperly."

Satori replies "I have a good mind to punish you, little miss."

Sanae stares at Yumeko, almost wanting to ask her and Yuki to stay, but Yumeko simply nods and says "she'll come back tomorrow and help with the damages. Sorry for the mess."

She lifts the barely conscious Yuki form the ground, who moans and says "pink hearts are evil."

Yumeko lifts to the air and flies away without saying another word.

The shrine is quiet now, the lights are off, the roof is a mess, but Sanae is too tired to start working on it now.

She walks to the porch and sits there, then looks at the darkening sky, then sighs and says "it's... so quiet around here."

* * *

Night at the Hakurei Shrine.

Shinki flies to the gate back home, once again hooded, saying "you take care, and take care of miss Rika too."

Reimu calls back "thanks for helping too."

Byakuren finishes covering Hatate with a blanket and says "she fell asleep right after Rika recovered her body heat."

Reimu sighs and says "animals can be too loyal for their own good sometimes."

Byakuren giggles and says "well, I better head back home. You take care, miss Reimu, and make sure Rika keeps well rested."

Reimu smiles, though feeling slightly annoyed, then says "you don't really need to remind me, but thanks."

After Byakuren leaves, Reimu turns around and finds Yuyuko smiling whimsically while sitting on the table in front of an empty snack tray.

Reimu asks "and what exactly did you come here for?"

Yuyuko replies "I was just passing by."

Reimu asks "well, isn't it about time to head back home?"

Yuyuko smiles and replies "you should be overjoyed I'm willing to stay here."

Reimu smiles, even though a vein pulsates on her forehead, then bluntly says "go back home, you!"

From outside the shrine, Youmu's voice calls "Yuyu-sama~! Are you there?"

Reimu smirks, making Yuyuko frown with fright, then calls "she's over here. Come and take her home already!"

Youmu climbs the porch, revealing herself from the darkness of the night, then bows and says "I'm coming in, then."

She looks around and spots Yuyuko, smiling nervously and wiggling her fingers at her.

She scowls and says "Yuyu-sama, do you know how worried I was?"

Yuyuko giggles and replies "what's life without a little worry now and then?"

Youmu takes off her shoes and walks closer to Yuyuko, saying "what if something happens to you? I'm supposed to guard Yuyuko with my life, but if you keep disappearing like that, how am I supposed to uphold my duty!?"

She suddenly notices Rika on the floor inside a futon with Hatate sleeping next to her, then asks "who's that next to miss Rika?"

Sounding rather annoyed, Reimu replies "that's Hatate, another news hunter tengu. Rather annoying if you ask me."

Youmu asks "oh, so The Wolf View Report was right after all. That paper is pretty accurate."

Reimu asks "what's that?"

Youmu replies "it's a new newspaper from another tengu."

As she replies to Reimu's question, Youmu notices Rika's sword leaning against the wall.

She stares at it for some time, then sighs and says "it's time we left, Yuyuko-sama."

Reimu notices a spark in Youmu's eyes as she stares at Rika's sword, but prefers to keep quiet, while Yuyuko smiles and tries as many excuses as possible to stay a little longer.

Meanwhile, at Ail's house, Ail lies on a futon in his room, looking up to the ceiling and saying "well, it can't be helped. I'll just have to build another bed."

Budou replies "you can always try the ceiling, papa. It's very comfortable."

Ail sweats, as Budou is inside the futon with him, hugging his neck with a powerful, tight grip.

Ail says "speaking of the ceiling, why don't you go sleep up there. I told you, I'm not leaving again. Ever."

Budou tightens her embracing hands and buries her face on Ail's chest and says "I'm not leaving papa's side again! No matter what, or where, or when, I'm not leaving you!"

Ail sighs in defeat, then brushes Budou's hair with his fingers and says "Budou... I'm really sorry for all that happened to you. I promise, I'll make it up to you, somehow."

Budou giggles and replies "buy me some grapes tomorrow and I might consider us even."

Ail and Budou laugh after that comment, then everything falls silent, and both slowly fall asleep.

At the Moriya Shrine, Suwako and Kanako land right in front of the shrine, Kanako almost falling on her side, saying "ooh~ that sake was just great."

Suwako adds "who knew Mai could hide so much under those wings."

Kanako smiles, then laughs and says "you got that right, froggy. Girl's got potential."

When they enter the shrine, they find Sanae sleeping on the ground, holding on to one of Budou's favorite pillow.

Kanako's drunken state lifts almost immediately as she says "look at that, Suwako."

Suwako frowns and says "Kanako, we need to do something for her."

Kanako sighs and says "we do owe her... even after all those beating she gave us."

Suwako sweats and nervously laughs, then says "yeah. We kinda earned it."

Kanako sighs and says "we need to rethink our methods, Moriya."

Suwako nods and says "we owe that much to her, and Ail and Rika too."

From outside the shrine, the is a loud clanking sound, accompanied by a quick yelp.

Suwako and Kanako run back outside the shrine and find Mystia drooling while lying on the ground, scratching the letters "S-U-C-C-U~", but stopping at the second U.

Kanako and Suwako look to the night sky and shiver as a crazed high-pitched cackle echoes all over the shrine.

* * *

The next morning, at the rocky valley, Marisa wakes up and finds fruits and vegetables of all kinds lying on large leaves next to her.

The hunger she feels the second she opens her eyes is undeniably painful, so the moment she spots the food, she ravages the fruits, devouring them as though they could escape her at any moment.

After eating her fill, she takes a few breaths and whispers "thanks... for the food."

From behind her, Wriggle replies "you're welcome."

Marisa jumps to her feet after yelping, then exclaims "Wriggle! It's you! Um, sorry for screaming like- UGH!"

The pain on her arm becomes evident as soon as her body fully wakes up.

Wriggle stares at Marisa and says "you should rest some more. Even with the treatment, you kept bleeding a lot."

Marisa stops holding her arm as the pain subsides, then looks around for a moment.

She looks at Wriggle and asks "wait, is Mima around?"

Wriggle frowns and looks down, then says "um, I haven't seen the crazy spirit woman... but I did find this."

Wriggle reveals Mima's crescent moon staff and says "it was at the entrance of that growling cave I found yesterday."

Marisa stares at the staff and immediately grasps is as soon as Wriggles offers it to her.

She turns around, and at a distance she sees the cave entrance Wriggle was talking about, where a faint roar echoes from within.

She stares at it and thinks "that rock at the top of that entrance... It's so familiar."

Marisa clenches her fingers around Mima's staff as she stares inside the cave, then straightens herself and says "we need to go get her."

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou and Kimi were created by Willie G.R.

Yumeko's "Dream Doll of the Subconscious Space", and "Alternate Reality, The World Through a Filter" spell cards,

Momiji's "Howl, Distant Link" spell card and,

Yuki's "Fire Sign, Hot Under the Grill" spell card were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

MAY 06 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Really, I want to thank you all for your comments and reviews. I am so glad to know these stories are to your liking! Also, sorry I don't answer them individually, but I'm focusing on the chapters. Hope you don't mind. Geez, this chapter took a little longer than I thought because of one sleepless night. So annoying, really. Wanting to sleep, but your eyes just keep opening up.**

**Ah well. Now we have to get Marisa and Mima back together, the goddesses are opening their eyes, Budou has her papa back, Kimi's acting weirder than usual. There are still a few more unsolved incidents as well. Wonder what fun we'll have with these *angelic smile*. Well, again, thanks for showing your support and please, keep showing that supports, it really helps with my inspiration too. See you next chapter, if the spirits will allow. Take Care.**


	21. Chapter 21

Morning at the Hakurei Shrine.

Reimu finds Rika sleeping alone on the living room's floor with a folded letter beside her.

Reimu quietly picks up the letter and reads "dear Hakurei maiden, please take care of Rika-sis while I return. Hatate."

Reimu looks behind the letter, checking to see if there is anything else, and after inspecting the empty side, she places it back on the ground and faces Rika.

She gently places a hand on her cheeks and says "you just came back from the mansion, just to end up sleeping like a log. What a naughty maid you are."

She looks around the shrine and remembers Rika, before she came back from her home looking like an angel, mopping the floors and saying "careful, I just mopped. It's really slippery", then slipping herself and falling on her back after a quick yelp.

Reimu giggles, then looks at the sleeping maid and whispers "to think I'm this attached to you. Please, just wake up already."

She stares at Rika, hoping she'll suddenly wake up, then there's a light thud coming from the back doors of the shrine that gets Reimu's full attention.

She quietly gets up from the ground and slowly walks to the door, asking "who's out there?"

There's no answer, so she readies some amulets and as soon as she opens the sliding doors, she finds Kimi Hong sleeping while kneeling right in front of the door.

Reimu stares with curiosity as she hides her amulets from sight and asks "Kimi, what are you doing sleeping there?"

Kimi opens her eyes and raises her head to stare at Reimu with her angry eyes, not even yawning or stretching, then says "you said you wanted to tell me something?"

Reimu stares back with surprise, then blinks twice and asks "you waited there all night just for that?"

Kimi nods and says "it must be important, so it's alright if I have to wait."

Reimu sighs, narrowing her left eye while scratching the back of her head, then says "come on, I'll make us something to eat. We'll speak over breakfast."

After preparing and serving breakfast, Kimi hesitantly picks her bowl of soup and slowly eats away.

Reimu takes a sip from her bowl, then softly says "I know you are hurt for many reasons, and your eyes, they tell me you want to go back there."

Kimi's pupils shrink the moment Reimu says this, then takes a loud gulp and says "y-yes. That place there is a paradise for me! I don't understand why must I be here, when I was so happy over there!"

Reimu closes her eyes and shakes her head lightly, then says "I cannot answer that question for you. I can only tell you there's a reason you returned."

Kimi lightly punches the table with her right fist and says "but why!? I don't understand! Ail and that dragon guardian tell me I can return, but only after I am done here."

Tears escape Kimi, though her eyes seem to be filled with rage as she says "they say I have a soul, and that I must find it. But I'm a shadow! That's not easy for me!"

Reimu sighs and replies "then let us help you. When I first saw you, I knew you were different from those other shadows. You've always had a soul, but you have to let us help you find it."

Kimi takes a few angry breaths, then says "the only reason I don't kill and eat the humans is because of my respect toward you. I don't care about others, and for all I care, everyone here can drop dead! But you! What is it about you that makes me feel like I shouldn't think that way, that I should help others instead!?"

Reimu stands up and smiles, then says "you can kill me, you know. Right now, I won't fight back. Just turn into a dragon and take a good bite."

Kimi's left pupil glows scarlet and her teeth turn jagged, but when she looks at Reimu's face, she stops and simply looks back outside.

Reimu smiles, then says "you see? You do have a soul, and it can speak to you."

Kimi continues to look away, feeling a small pain in her heart.

She knows the moment Reimu dies, she can be free of her pledge, but something inside her prevents her from killing the human she respects so much.

She suddenly stands up and says "I'm going back to the lake. Please call me if you need anything."

Reimu smiles and says "sure. And you can come back here, if you ever feel the need."

Kimi nods while looking away, then flies out of the shrine and heads on to the Misty Lake.

* * *

Her usual confident smile is gone, her eyes look tired and filled with doubt, her right arm hurts like hell is inside of it, and yet, she stands firm as she faces the challenges ahead.

Marisa stands at the entrance of the roaring cave in the rocky valley, holding on to Mima's staff as tight as possible.

A gust of wind from within the cave itself comes accompanied by roars that seem to come from deeper inside.

Wriggle hides behind Marisa, trembling as she says "a-a-are you s-s-sure you wanna go?"

Marisa closes her eyes and takes a step inside the cave and says "the magical pressure in here is strong. It's crushing my body. But Mima is in there, and I'm not leaving her behind. Not like this."

Wriggle takes a deep breath and says "fine. I already said I'm coming with you, so there's no backing out."

Marisa feels great relief after hearing that, however she won't say a word about, and simply walks into the cave and says "come on. We're wasting time."

Marisa and Wriggle bravely enter the cave, and are immediately swallowed up by the darkness inside.

Inside the cave, a soothing green light illuminates everything, though some areas are still too dark.

Marisa looks around and says "I knew it. That rock on the cave's entrance is just like the ones I used to make that stupid gate."

Wriggle looks curiously and asks "what does that mean?"

Marisa closes her eyes and says "this isn't just a cave. We are actually in another world. We're going to have to be extra careful."

Marisa starts walking deeper inside as Wriggle nods and walks close by, fear evident in her eyes.

As they walk further in, the echo of Marisa's and Wriggle's steps on the rocky ground seems to get louder, then it sounds as though she's just stepped into water.

Marisa stops and looks to her feet, but the ground is too dark to see.

Wriggle asks "is this some kind of trick?"

Marisa taps her foot as she curiously looks to her feet, quick splashing sounds following each tap.

Marisa stares at Wriggle and says "this... has to be some sort of spell. There's no water there, and yet..."

Wriggle holds her hands together, then generates a small light that illuminates Marisa's feet.

Wriggle and Marisa look with surprise, then Wriggle says "it's just as you say. There's no water, but it sounds like we're splashing."

Marisa grabs Wriggle and pushes her away, shouting "LOOK OUT!"

They both fall on the ground, making a very loud splash, and when they look up, they see a giant bat with furry black hair all over its body, red eyes and a set of giant fangs, screeching and trying to take a bite out of them.

Wriggle cries "it wants to eat me!"

Marisa grabs hold of Mima's staff and says "stay behind me", as she stands up and stances offensively, then continues "I can use some of Mima-sama's power with this."

Wriggle shivers as she says "be c-careful."

The bat uses the dark spots on the cave to disappear momentarily, though its red eyes gives it away with ease.

Marisa softly growls as she keeps pointing the crescent moon on Mima's staff at the bat, waiting for it to make the first move.

The bat screeches, then hides in darkness, this time it closing its eyes and keeping quiet.

Marisa nervously looks around and asks "w-where is it?"

The giant bat silently swoops down from behind them, yet Wiggle somehow manages to feel its presence and shouts "AHH! Behind us!"

Without hesitating, Marisa swings Mima's staff in the air and strikes the bat right on the face, making it squeal in pain as it rolls on the dark ground.

Marisa asks "did that do it?"

The bat jumps out of the ground behind them, but instead of attacking, it flies away, screeching with fright, turning on many green lights that reveal more of the cave to them, and showing them a long path to follow along sparkling rocky walls.

Wriggle gasps with amazement and says "it's so beautiful."

Marisa drops to the ground and holds her right arm, wincing in pain and clenching her teeth.

Wriggle sighs and says "that's one stubborn wound."

Marisa asks "what do you mean?"

Wriggle replies "those herbs I mixed were supposed to have you fixed by now. But don't worry, they are still doing their job."

Marisa takes a few deep breaths to get accustomed to the pain, then says "that's just great. I'm useless after all."

Wriggle stares at Marisa with pity, but feels it would be a bad idea to try and comfort her, so instead she says "once the wound is completely healed, the bandages will slip off on their own, so just hold on for a little longer, and you'll be just fine."

The pain in her arm subsides, so Marisa stares at the bandages for a while, then says "let's go, Wriggle.", then continues walking down the splashing path.

* * *

Noon at the Hakurei Shrine.

Reimu finishes sweeping the grounds of dead leaves and dust and calmly walks back inside the shrine to check on Rika.

She steps on to the porch and holds the sliding doors, but doesn't open them.

She stays like that for a little while, then smiles and says "well, well, so you finally came here. I was starting to wonder when would you get cocky enough to try."

Behind her stand three female vampires, one blonde and the other two, black haired, all showing off their beautiful, shapely bodies, wearling very light clothing.

The blond vampire raises her hand and points at Reimu, and in a seductive tone of voice she says "we have come to kill you, Hakurei maiden."

The black haired vampire from the left says in a threatening tone "we will feast on your blood and take rule over Gensokyo!"

Reimu's smile turns to a rage-filled frown as her eyes hide under shadow, then asks "oh yeah? And which of you three will be the one in command?"

All three vampires point at themselves with their thumbs, proudly saying "ME" at the same time.

The blonde vampire turns around with a twisted rage-filled face and says "you two are going to learn your place!"

In a flash, the blonde vampire strikes her companions with her claws, cutting off their necks, and without her knowledge, Reimu tosses a pair of amulets that stick to the severed heads, then the two black haired vampires, their heads and bodies, ignite in a purple flame, then turn to ashes.

The blonde vampire's face fills with terror when she realizes what just happened, and when she turns around, she has Reimu standing a mere 3 feet away from her, glaring back with murderous eyes as she asks "so, when exactly do you plan to... as you said, 'feast on my blood'?"

The vampire takes two steps back, then a hand grabs hold of the back of her head, then a man's voice says "spirits, please purify this creature. Save its soul so it may rest in peace."

The vampire screams out loud and her body instantly turns to ashes. Reimu smiles and says "a holy spell, I see."

Ail stands next to Budou in front of Reimu, smiling and scratching the back of his head while saying "well, I learned quite a few things form the guardian dragon when I got into his body by mistake."

After saying that, he turns his smiling face to Budou and says "see? That's another way to deal with these vampires."

Budou stares at Ail, then zips behind the bushes.

There's a lot of rustling for a moment, then a brunette vampire flies right out of the bushes, followed by Budou, whose eyes glow aquamarine.

The little bat youkai screeches, releasing a paralyzing shockwave, then mixes her laser danmaku with her claws and slashes the vampire away, and in just seconds, the vampire bursts in red flames and slowly turns to ashes, screaming as she burns away.

Budou stands next to the vampire's ashes and asks "you were saying?"

Ail and Reimu both smile nervously, then Ail sweats and manages to say "v-very good. You certainly showed her."

Budou giggles, her eyes turning back to violet, and while she does Ail whispers to Reimu's ear, saying "that was a little scary."

Reimu quietly nods, then sighs and asks "want some tea?"

Ail bows and says "thank you for the offer, but I only came to ask you something."

Reimu stares suspiciously, then Ail quickly adds "Nitori, Budou and I are going to free my family in the outside world."

Reimu places her hands on her hips while staring some more, then Ail sighs and says "the thing is, I spoke with Kanako and Suwako, and I want to know, why aren't you going after Marisa?"

Reimu's face turns a bit pale, but she manages to keep calm while saying "the thing is, I've lost track of her. I don't know where she is right now. Not even that rabid night sparrow knows where she is."

Ail tilts his confused head and asks "rabid... night? Are you alright?"

Reimu smiles and says "you'll meet him soon enough."

Ail blinks twice and says "I see."

The shrine doors open up, then Nitori walks out with an accomplished face and says "wow, the tengu were right. She's in really bad shape. But don't worry, I left her with a self-powered fan to keep her comfortable."

Inside the shrine, Rika lies in her futon with a very content expression, as a fan to her right gently blows cool air to her face.

Back outside, Reimu sweats and asks "that thing won't blow up, right?"

Nitori flaps her hand in the air and says "relax, relax. I've already worked out all the bugs."

Reimu stares at Nitori with great concern, then the kappa sweats and says "I'm serious, it'll work just fine!"

Ail and Budou stare at each other, then she suddenly jumps on Ail's arms and says "let's go free gramma now!"

Ail smiles back and says "good idea. Nitori, shall we?"

Reimu asks "you're not gonna go cause trouble right?"

Ail casually replies "nah. I'm just going out there to perform for the cameras, is all."

Reimu stares at him and blinks twice, however, she decides to stay quiet.

* * *

Inside the cave, Marisa and Wriggle continue following the lighted path left behind by the giant bat.

By now, every time they move it sounds as though they are neck-deep in water, yet they feel the ground underneath them as dry as when they first entered, and they movements aren't hindered at all.

Wriggle whispers "hey, miss Marisa, aren't you afraid?"

Marisa asks "about what?"

Wriggle replies "well, even though there's no water, I have a very bad feeling here. Like we could get swept by a strong current at any second."

Marisa clenches Mima's staff tight and says "hold on to me and you should be fine."

Wriggle immediately wraps her arms around Marisa's left arm, then asks "why are you being so nice to me now? I mean, if you are grateful I am here with you, just say so, but you being this nice is creeping me out."

Marisa chuckles, anxiety escaping her being as she does, then says "it's because... I'm afraid of you guys."

Wriggle looks curiously at Marisa's face as she continues "I've tried to keep myself strong ever since my magic got sealed, but the more time passes, the more I realize how weak I truly am."

Wriggle angrily says "you are not weak, miss witch. For a human, you are quite strong! You're even treating a youkai like me as an equals."

Marisa quickly replies "because I'm so afraid of you right now. If you should decide to attack, what can I do to defend myself? And now, with this arm..."

Wriggle stops while holding Marisa, making her stop to look into her eyes, then says "I promise, I will not attack you! I'm a youkai, not a human, so you can trust my promises."

Marisa stares into Wriggles determined eyes for a moment, then smiles and kneels down, but the moment her knee touches the ground, she and Wriggle finds themselves underwater, and being swept away by a school of glowing blue fish.

They hold on to each other as tightly as they can without hurting each other, as the fish speed them all over the water, circling them all around, making them lose their bearings and then disappear, turning into ice, making them slide uncontrollably.

The water suddenly dries up and Marisa shouts "HOLD ON!"

Wriggle shouts back "WE'RE GOING DOWN!"

When Marisa looks ahead, she notices they are sliding straight toward a large hole.

Marisa shouts "hold on to the staff! Don't let go!"

The second Wriggle grabs Mima's crescent staff, Marisa uses all her strength to stick the bottom of the staff on the ice, but her strength is not enough and they continue to slip, so Wriggle uses her youkai strength to help Marisa push that staff into the ice, then they start to slow down, until they suddenly stop, just before reaching the end of that trail.

After a while, Wriggle opens her clenched eyes, then exclaims "miss Marisa, we're alright!"

Marisa suddenly lets go of the staff and curls into a ball, clenching her teeth and whimpering as she holds on to her right arm.

Wriggle watches as some blood courses through the bandages, then says "maybe we should rest a little."

Marisa stops trembling, then says "I can't do this. I just can't do this. Any little thing that happens and this damned arm reacts like this!"

Wriggle pats her head, unable to find comforting words for a human, then the soothing light in the cave dies out, leaving both in complete darkness.

Wriggle hears a sob from Marisa, so she summons an orb of light to her hand and says "if you want to get out, we can always come back later with some help."

Marisa gulps, hiding the overwhelming sadness that fills her heart, then says "there's no way to tell where we are right now, and even if we did, I don't want to leave Mima behind!"

Wriggle asks "then what should we do?", and just like that, the ice underneath them melts away, and an eerie purple light illuminates another path for them, going straight through where the hole was just seconds ago, although now, instead of a giant hole, there is the bridge over a raging river.

Wriggle and Marisa stare at the bridge, then look at each other, wondering if they should follow or not.

* * *

Night at the world outside of Gensokyo.

Ayalina finishes preparing dinner, but before she can set everything, a man and woman in black suits inspect every single dinner plate, down to the last cup that will be used.

Ayalina growls with fury and says "won't you stop that? Like he could be hiding inside plates!"

The man snorts and the woman angrily says "you know what this is. We'll make sure you can't support that delinquent in any way at all!"

Suddenly, Ail's sister shouts "MOM! DAD! Ail's on TV!!"

Ayalina, and the agents rush out of the kitchen and run straight to the living room, meeting with Ail's father already there with his daughter and looking into the television.

Ail stands in the middle of a large yellow stage inside an abandoned warehouse, expanding his arms and saying with glee "people of the city, don't bother changing the channel, as I have hijacked all the station's satellites, so you can all witness the magnificence of real-life special effects! Yes, you heard me right! Not 3-D, but REAL-LIFE! HAHAHA~"

The female agent picks up her cell phone and almost immediately says "chief... yeah, the very same warehouse where he disappeared!"

Ayalina looks to the agents with the corner of her eyes and smirks.

At the abandoned warehouse, Budou fires some weak lasers at Ail, while Nitori works the camera and some added special effects, while Ail touches Budou's lasers, showing the camera how he interacts with the "special effects".

After some time passes, and Ail gets tired of showing off, he turns to the camera and says "ladies and gentlemen, if you thought that was amazing, then wait until you see what I got in store for you!"

Nitori and Budou stop what they are doing, and while Nitori sets up a strange machine with colorful buttons, Budou heads straight toward one of Ail's open gaps and waits.

Ail says "watch now, as I burn myself alive with purple fire, yet no harm will come to me! Yes, that's right. I'll burn myself alive and walk out like nothing's ever happened. Here... I... GO!"

The moment Ail says "go", Nitori presses a sequence of buttons, then Ail gets surrounded by purple flames, though in reality, he's behind the flames, which cover the camera while Nitori places an exact replica of Ail in the middle.

Ail himself starts shouting "w-wait... WAIT! NO, this isn't supposed to... ARGH~!!"

On the TV, it looks as though Ail is being engulfed by the purple flames as he runs around in despair, screaming as his body is rapidly consumed by the fire.

The agents panic, and the male agent says "dammit! This is what we wanted to avoid!"

Ail's sister and father panic and scream, as if trying to help Ail through the TV, while Ayalina continues to smirk and thinks "that's my boy. Just like his mother."

Suddenly, she realizes the agents are looking at her, so she frowns and continues to stare at the TV.

She suddenly starts to tremble and cry, then shouts "NO~! My baby! My son, somebody save my son!!"

She rushes to the television and starts punching it hard, then the agents rush to her, the female screaming "lady! Missis Leuch, calm down! There's nothing you can do!"

As they pull her away from the television, she kicks and cries, calling for her son, while everyone else tries to calm her down, even though the entire family wants to join in the despair.

The sun is rising from the east, the abandoned warehouse is no more than a pile of ashes, the polices surrounding the area as firefighters inspect everything.

News reporters swarm all over Ayalina and her family as they leave the police station after they identified Ail's "body", which is completely burned up, except for the face.

By the time is sun is up, Ayalina and her family reach the house, the reporters long gone, the agents far away, and peace slowly being restored to their lives.

The family quietly celebrates, holding their hands and jumping in a circle, then Ail, Budou and Nitori walk out of the living room, Ail saying "and now, the people should leave you alone."

Ayalina rushes to Ail and gives him a kiss on the cheek, a bone-crushing hug, then a knock on the head while saying "you really scared us back there."

Ail chuckles and says "I'm sorry, but it was the only way to make it truly convincing."

His father and sister force a hug on Ail, then let him go to say hi to Nitori and Budou, who try their best not to shy away.

Ail approaches his mother and says "well, I'm now dead. Mom, dad, sis, I asked Reimu, and she agreed. If you guys want to move into Gensokyo, we can make arrangements to..."

Ail's sister immediately says "and miss my TV shows and concerts? Forget it!"

His father adds "it makes me glad to know you thought about us, but really, we've grown accustomed to this life, and we are very comfortable here."

Ayalina gives Ail another bone-crushing hug, this time cutting off his breath for a moment, then releases him and says "I have to stay here, for my family, and my darling husband. It's true I'll outlive them both, but in the meantime, I have to stay."

Ail coughs as he recovers his breath, then walks to Budou and Nitori, who holds the family's TV in her hands, along with some other gadgets and says "Nitori, I told you. After we get back, you can have the gadgets."

Nitori drops the items on the ground and with a sad face she says "aww, I wanted to take these apart."

Ail's sister exclaims "ACK! My CD player! You little imp!"

Nitori cries "I'm a kappa!"

Ail turns around to face his family and says "somehow I knew you guys wouldn't want to come, but it's alright. We must all live life as we see fit."

Ayalina nods, then says "I'll try to visit you more often, but please, you could also write some more, and you could visit occasionally too."

Ail chuckles nervously and says "er, right! Don't worry, mom, dad, sis. I'll write more often."

Budou adds "as for visiting, he's only allowed to do so under my supervision!"

Ail's sister chuckles mischievously and says "and the little daughter holds the key."

Nitori gasps and holds on to the key on her chest and says "no way! She can't have it."

After a quick laugh, Ail says "it's time to go back. I'll see you guys later, ok?"

Ail's family nods, then Ail opens up a gap to the Hakurei Shrine, and after entering, Nitori, Budou and Ail himself, turn around and bow to the family, Budou saying "I'll take care of papa for you!"

Ayalina giggles, while Ail's father and sister laugh heartily, then.

After the gap closes, Ayalina says "well, time to have a quiet breakfast for once!"

* * *

Inside the dark cave, Marisa and Wriggle have lost the track of time, as well as their bearings inside the cave.

They have been following the eerily lit bride for quite a long time, however, neither feel fatigue or hunger.

Marisa suddenly feels a vibration on the floor and asks "hey, Wriggle... do you feel that?"

Wriggle looks at Marisa with curiosity, then says "it feels like... the bridge is shaking."

The raging river below the bride seems to fall down a large hole, and when Marisa looks back, she gasps and screams "RUN!!"

Wriggle starts running, though doesn't know why, until she looks back and sees the bridge breaking and falling down the hole, faster than they can run.

Wriggle yelps then clenches her eyes, pushing herself to run faster, then shouts "oh no! I can't fly!"

Marisa shouts "just run! Come on!"

They pant as they try to run faster, however the bridge keeps collapsing faster than they can run and quickly catches up to them.

Wriggle falls first, shouting "Marisa, help~!"

Marisa shouts "wait, don't go!", then lets herself fall along with the bug youkai.

Marisa grabs Wriggle's arm with her left arm, while holding on to Mima's staff with her right, then shouts "try to fly!"

Wriggle clenches her eyes and tries to impulse herself, then shouts "I can't! My magic's being drained!"

Both girls scream as they continue to fall down the long, dark hole, Marisa shouting "REIMU!"

At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu wakes up with a gasp and exclaims "Marisa! I know where she is!"

Without even thinking of changing herself, she rushes out of the shrine while wearing her sleeping clothes, but before she is able to reach the sliding doors to exit, she bumps on to Shikieiki, who appears out of nowhere and says "well, aren't you in a hurry."

Reimu exclaims "Marisa needs my help! I know where she is!"

Shikieiki lifts both hands, revealing her burned hand is now completely healed, signaling Reimu to stay still as she says "Reimu, you can't help her now. You'll only get in her way."

Reimu springs up to her feet and exclaims "I'm not just some weakling, you know that!"

Shikieiki raises her voice as she says "that is not what I meant, Reimu!"

Reimu gasps, then calms down.

Shikieiki sighs and calmly says "look, you know where she is, and you know well enough, if you set foot in there, there is little chance you'll come out alive."

Reimu stares at Shikieiki and says "I know, but I can't just leave her like that. Not after..."

Shikieiki sighs again, then says "I already sent help her way. Just have faith in your friend. She'll come back alive, you'll see."

Reimu drops to her knees and asks "then what the hell am I supposed to do?"

Shikieiki approaches Reimu and places a hand on her shoulder, then says "just have faith in your friend. Right now, you have to focus on that girl over there."

Shikieiki points at Rika, making Reimu's face fill with confusion, then asks "what do you mean?"

Shikieiki smiles and says "Rika is going to help Marisa seal that gate for us."

Reimu stares at Shikieiki with wonderment in her eyes, then looks back at Rika and says "she used a pretty powerful spell, and just like Ail, she overexerted herself and ended up twice as hurt."

Shikieiki stares at Reimu with a very serious look, then says "don't forget, that these things all happen for a reason. Don't fall into despair again, Reimu. Before this all ends, Marisa will need you. After all, you are her most important friend."

Reimu stares at Shikieiki for a while, then sighs and says "fine. I'll stay here and care for her. But if something happens to Marisa, I'm holding you responsible."

Shikieiki sweats and says "w-well, what little faith you have. And to speak to me, a yama, in such manner."

Reimu chuckles and says "relax, relax. I was just joking."

From outside, Ail, Budou and Nitori look inside the shrine through a small crack in the sliding doors.

Reimu smiles, and in a dangerously happy tone she says "I can see you three over there, so either come inside or go home!"

* * *

At the Youkai Mountain, Momiji stretches out, readying herself for the day ahead.

After stretching, she grabs her sword and shield, brandishes her sword, then safely sheathes it away on her back.

She takes a step forward, then stops and sighs.

Hatate flies from behind, cackling like a maniac and shouting "I'm sorry, miss, but there's already enough competition as it is. I'm taking you out of the newspaper business, even if it's the last thing I do."

Momiji face palms and says "but if it's the last thing you'll do, what good will that be FOR you?"

Hatate stops in mid-air and stares at Momiji with confusion, then says "you know, I guess you're right. I'll just have to win, then."

Momiji stares at Hatate with bored eyes, then pulls out her sword, along with a spell card, then calmly says "Mountain Nomad, Expellee's Canaan."

Momiji flies to the air and swings her blade around, expelling a tight, circular formation of yellow bullets that seem to grow in size as they move farther away from her, while she fires red bullets in rapid succession.

Hatate pulls out her camera and a spell card and says "well, you cut right down to the chase. Continuous Shooting, Rapid Shot!"

Hatate laughs as she takes rapid pictures, absorbing Momiji's bullets with ease, and taking a few shots of Momiji herself while she's at it.

After getting close, Hatate unleashes a barrage for randomly-trailing petal bullets that catch Momiji by surprise, making her yelp and fall back to the ground.

Hatate seems to jump in the air, tasting a quick victory, however, Momiji growls and says "if danmaku won't help, I'll have to try a more direct approach."

Momiji flies up to meet Hatate, whose spell card is still in effect, then swings her sword and unleashes a barrage of blue shard bullets, then waves her shield around herself and unleashes a lose, circular formation of blue orbs.

Hatate smirks and says "seems you need a little more. Let's go!"

She takes many pictures in succession and gets close to Momiji, but before she unleashes her petal bullets, Momiji says "Dog Sign, Rabies Bite!"

Hatate only has time to widen her eyes and whimper, as Momiji rushes forward, going between the bullets, then takes a powerful bite out of Hatate's arm, swings her around the air, then tosses her away, making her scream "that really hurt, you mean dog~!"

A vein pulsates on Momiji's vein, then she shouts back "I'm a wolf! A WOLF!!!"

* * *

Lying on a cold white stone, Marisa wakes up to a snowstorm.

As she gets up and looks around, she thinks she's somewhere outside the cave, however she notices many rocky white walls and a white roof, then thinks "this is the cave. I can't believe it. There is a snowstorm inside this cave."

Marisa looks around some more, finding Mima's crescent moon staff next to her, then the realization hits her hard.

Marisa jumps to her feet and frantically looks around and calls "Wriggle!? Wriggle, where are you!?"

As she looks around, narrowing her eyes to avoid the burning cold from entering them, then thinks "this is no good. She's a bug, and naturally weak against the cold. I need to find her, quick."

She looks around some more and calls "Wriggle, where the heck are you!?"

She takes two steps forward and bumps something soft under a large pile of snow.

Immediately she bends down, shouting "Wriggle!", and digging through the snow, finding Wriggle just barely conscious and shivering violently.

Marisa grabs the bug youkai and carries her on her back, then says "don't you worry! I'll get you out of here! Just hold on!"

A white light reveals a snowy path that goes further inside the cave, yet there is no sign of the snow stopping at any moment.

Marisa says out loud "what is it with this cave!? Stop snowing already! Come on, I already took a few steps!"

The snow only gets stronger, making Marisa feel more desperate, looking around for anything warm, and right against the left-side wall she finds a small cave.

She quickly walks toward it, holding Wriggle on her back and Mima's staff on her right hand, saying "hold on, Wriggle. I found us a cave! I'll get us a fire going and you'll be just fine, you'll see!"

Marisa finally enters the small cave and immediately realizes it's so dark, she can't see her own nose in front of her.

She touches around and places Wriggle on a flat surface, then says "don't worry. I'll think of something."

A light suddenly turns on to Marisa's left, getting her attention.

A small child-sized youkai, wearing a straw vest that covers down to its knees, a head that looks like a well-rounded stone, bulging yellow eyes, a long, thin nose, and yellow skin, holds a lit oil lantern and mumbles "stupid yama. Just because I stole some oil. Turns me to this."

He continues to mumble while rummaging through a stone box that lies next to a red wall, so Marisa cautiously approaches him and says "e-excuse me?"

The little youkai quickly turns around and asks "wazzat? Who are you, miss human?"

Marisa thinks of telling a lie, however, she is so distraught she bluntly replies "I'm Marisa, and this is Wriggle. She's cold. Is there anything we can use to warm her up?"

The creature smiles and pulls out broken pieces of lumber out of the stone box, grabs a bottle with oil and spreads it on the lumber, then snaps it's thin fingers and shoots a small fireball that quickly ignites the lumber, making a warm fire.

He smiles and says "bring her closer. This should help."

Marisa obediently grabs Wriggle and carries her near the fire, all while still holding Mima's staff.

The creature stares at the staff and says "humans and youkai from the outside shouldn't be here. You'll die."

Marisa quickly says "we are looking for a friend. Maybe you've seen her. She has long green hair, wears blue, and has a ghostly tail that looks like a giant shrimp."

The creature smiles, shakes his head, then turns around to rummage through his box again, mumbling "I'll show that yama. Just need to find that ring."

Marisa asks "so... who are you, mister...?"

The short youkai gets out of the box to look at Marisa, then smiles and says "I'm an Oil Presser youkai. That's all you need to know about me."

Marisa gasps and backs away, and noticing this, the creature says "don't worry. I won't harm you."

The snow outside suddenly subsides, however the cave entrance closes off, trapping Marisa and Wriggle inside, then the creature suddenly walks away and says "you two should get out. The master of this cave has found a mate, and he plans to have a wedding. You two should just head back up to the surface where it's safe."

Before Marisa can ask some more questions, the creature walks right through a green wall, mumbling "that's right. The ring is over there."

Marisa calls for him, rushing to the green wall, but a powerful energy pushes her back with great force, then she lands next to Wriggle, who is completely restored and looking down with worry, saying "miss Marisa, are you alright?"

When Marisa opens her eyes again, she finds Wriggle looking at her with worry.

The fire is gone, replaced by a tree, covered in a glowing lilac crystal.

Marisa exclaims "Wriggle, you're ok!"

Wriggle extends her arm to help Marisa up, then says "it's funny, but I thought I was freezing to death, then I suddenly wake up next to you and this tree, and find you mumbling in your sleep."

Marisa asks "and what about that oil presser youkai?"

Wriggle looks around, rubbing her lower lip with her finger, then says "I'm sorry, but I haven't seen anyone else, so I don't know."

Marisa looks at Wriggle with confusion, then a soothing lime light reveals another path through the cave. Marisa stares bravely at it and says "come on. Mima needs us."

Wriggle smiles and says "right behind you."

* * *

It's night at the Hakurei Shrine, and while Ail and Nitori excitedly tell their tale about how the tricked the humans to Reimu, the shrine maiden is distracted while staring at her feet on the ground.

Budou approaches Reimu and asks "Hakurei sis, what's the matter? You want to go help miss Marisa, don't you?"

Reimu shakes her head, snapping out of her thoughts, then chuckles and says "i-it's alright. Shikieiki said she was getting help for her, so it's alright."

Reimu manages to pull a fake smile, though Budou isn't fooled, staring at Reimu straight into her eyes, then says "if you really are this worried, we can take care of Rika for you, while you are gone."

Ail and Nitori suddenly complain about Reimu not listening, then Sanae reveals herself from the shrine's kitchen, saying "you two take it easy, and Budou, don't go making promises you aren't sure you can keep."

Reimu softly says "it's alright. Besides, even if you guys did that, I can't disobey the yama."

For a moment, everybody stares at Reimu, then all sigh at the same time.

The shrine remains quiet for a while, then Phredia suddenly flies out of Budou's heart, flies straight to Reimu, then tries to pull her up.

Reimu looks at Phredia and says "oh, little Phredia. Glad to see you're alright."

Phredia pulls on Reimu some more, then Reimu giggles and says "it's alright. I'm fine, I swear."

Phredia manages to pull Reimu hard enough to make her stand up, then takes her outside, leading her to the hot springs.

Reimu says "alright, alright. Let me get some snacks, at least."

Budou calls "I'll get them for you, but only if I can join."

Nitori adds "wait for me!"

After the girls leave, Phredia peeks through the shrine's entrance, flips her tiny thumb up, then winks after she slightly closes the door.

Now Ail and Sanae are alone with the sleeping Rika, inside the shrine.

At first, Sanae thinks of joining in with the other girls, but after seeing Phredia's wink, she decides to stay.

She sits next to Ail on the floor, but before she says anything, Ail says "I'm sorry I couldn't go to your shrine today either, but Reimu really needed our support."

Sanae calmly says "it's alright", then stares at him and says "I see you're back to your dark violet shirt, huh?"

Ail giggles and nods, saying "I think I wore pink shirts long enough. I prefer dark colors, if that's alright."

Sanae giggles and says "it's alright..."

They keep quiet for a while, then Ail says "hmm, I forgot to thank Koishi."

Sanae narrows her eyes and softly asks "why?"

Ail calmly replies "she's the one who taught me how to walk on water and how to use that morph ability."

By now, Sanae is face-to-face with Ail, then whispers "oh really?"

Ail slowly closes his eyes along with Sanae, whispering back "yes, really."

From outside, looking through the small opening in the sliding door, Kanako whispers "whoa, she's totally eating him up!"

Suwako sighs, then whispers back "well, our little Sanae sure has grown up, and she's so aggressive too."

Suwako and Kanako stare at each other, then Kanako whispers "you think they'll do something?"

Suwako shrugs, then they both look back inside.

Ail and Sanae are gone, then Suwako whispers "hey, where did they go?"

Kanako whispers back "I don't know. I only looked away for a second."

From their right, Sanae says "well, enjoying the show, aren't we?"

From their left, Ail smiles and says "perhaps it's time we gave the audience a sneak peek at the action scenes."

Kanako and Suwako's faces turn blue as they try to back-crawl away from Ail and Sanae, both staring back at them with murderous smiles.

Meanwhile, at the hot spring, Reimu contently sighs and says "I guess a little soak is all I needed."

Budou says "see? You didn't have to get all sad and stuff."

Nitori tilts her hear, raising her ear, then asks "do you guys hear that?"

Sanae walks next to the hot spring, holding Suwako and Kanako by the back of their necks and dragging them like large dolls, and with an angry smile on her face, she gently places the two goddesses in the water, then says "thank you for totally ruining the mood. As punishment, you two will be cooking for yourselves for a week!"

Suwako and Kanako whine and nod, then Reimu says "ruined the... HEY, this is a shrine!"

Sanae giggles and says "it's ok. Nothing too violent happened."

Reimu's face turns blue as she stares at Sanae, then says "ok, next time, I'm dragging you here with me."

* * *

Unknown to Marisa and Wriggle, who continue to walk though the lime-green path, two days have already passed, yet they still feel as though it's only been a few hours since they entered the cave.

The path stops right in front of a tall black wall, then Marisa comments "wait, a dead-end?"

Wriggle sniffs around, then says "no, I think there's more ahead. Maybe it's a door."

Marisa and Wriggle place their hands all around the wall, but find nothing.

Marisa sighs, about to suggest to turn around, but after she blinks, the entire path is gone, and she and Wriggle find themselves falling slowly to a lower level, lighted up by an unwelcoming red light.

They softly land on their feet and look around.

They spot a large gate with a soothing blue light inside, and immediately Marisa feels she needs to go there.

When she take the first step, Wriggle holds on to her waist, covers her mouth, then points up.

Sleeping on the ceiling, clinging on to their feet, are a large group of giant bats, all with large long fangs, some with black fur, others with brown hair, some having tails of monkeys, others having tails of dogs of cats, and one of them, the largest one of them all, has a long demonic tail that hangs close to the entrance to the next room, like a trap for any trespassers.

Marisa gulps, then looks at Wriggle and signals her to move on.

They move as quietly as they can while walking right under the sleeping bats, fear evident in their sweaty faces, knowing that the moment one of those creatures wakes up, they are dead.

One of the bats screeches, making Marisa and Wriggle flinch and hold their heads, but the bat quickly falls asleep again, so they slowly compose themselves and try to quicken their pace while walking by as quietly as possible.

Finally, they reach the other side, where the door lies open, then notice the demonic tail wriggles around, making it harder to get through.

Wriggle looks at Marisa, then nods and jumps over the creature's tail, landing softly on the other side.

Marisa takes a quiet deep breath, then jumps over the tail, but when she lands, Mima's staff hits the ground too hard, and the metallic noise from the staff immediately wakes the biggest bat up, making it screech loudly, waking up his subjects.

The door begins to close, so Wriggle grabs Marisa and pushes her inside, making her fall on her seat and saying "GO! I'll hold them off", then summons countless bugs to surround her.

Marisa shouts "WAIT! Let me help you!"

Wriggle turns her head with a smile and says "I'm a lot tougher than you are right now. I'll be fine."

Marisa gets up from the ground and shouts "no! let me help you! Come on!"

Giant cockroaches fly in front of the closing door, preventing Marisa from going further, then Marisa watches as the giant bats all close in on Wriggle and all her bugs, opening their mouth menacingly, bearing their large, long fangs as they get even closer, then the door finally closes off.

Marisa uses Mima's staff to strike the door hard, shouting "Wriggle, open up! Wriggle! Let me help you! Let me help you!!"

Marisa can't hear anything through the thick wall and drops on her knees, sniffling and saying "I can't... go on. I've, I've done it again. Reimu, Mima, Wriggle... Gensokyo. What a mess... What a mess!!"

She tries to hold back her tears, but hear heart can't take any more.

All her hope is now lost, and a hidden sense of guilt has crept over her.

She's on the verge of breaking down, right there, under the depressing light of the blue room.

Just before she breaks down to cry, a beam of light reaches her eyes, making her raise her head.

At the end of a long, wide-open path between rocky formations, is Mima, floating in the air, trapped inside an orb that emanates a soothing crystal-blue light.

Marisa stands up, holding Mima's staff on her hands, then fills herself up with courage and after she sniffle and rubes her eyes wither left arm, she says "Mima-sama! I'll save you now, so we can save Wriggle; get out of this damned cave together."

Marisa stands next to the entrance of the room, holding on to Mima's staff as she stares ahead to where Mima is.

* * *

To be Continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Kimi, the RKNS and Ayalina were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

MAY 08 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**14 hours. That's all it took to write this chapter. I am actually amazed at myself, however I did have the chapter well-mapped inside my head, so it was easier to write. I already have the next chapter mapped out, so if I don't get too distracted, I might finish it as fast, however it's the weekend, so chances are I'll be distracted by many things...**

**Again, thank you for showing your support and I hope you are all enjoying the read. Actually I am glad to know you are. It helps with my inspiration. Things seem to be settling more in Gensokyo; this "Touhouverse". Let's hope the pace keeps up, eh? See you next chapter if the spirits will allow, and take care.**


	22. Chapter 22

Marisa stands next to the sealed door, staring toward the end of the room large blue room, where Mima seems to be in suspended animation while trapped inside an orb of light.

Marisa tightens her grip on Mima's crescent moon staff and fills herself up with courage and says to herself "the sooner I do this, the sooner we can save Wriggle and get out of here."

She runs down a set of steps that suddenly appear before her, though she ignores their sudden appearance and continues to run through a narrow, rocky path surrounded by stalactites and other rock formations.

When she reaches the bottom, tiny black, purple, blue and green imps, wearing helmets with sharp spikes on their heads, straw vests that cover down to their thin legs, and bearing jagged sharp teeth under their glowing green eyes, jump right out of the dark spots in the surrounding area.

A total of 5 get on Marisa's way, startling her for a second.

She clenches her teeth, disguising her fear with courage, then grips Mima's staff tight and says "out of my way, little creeps!"

Two of the creatures jump straight at her, aiming their spiked helmets at her, but Marisa instinctively swings Mima's staff, and the moment it strikes their tiny bodies, they turn into a dark mist and disappear.

Marisa watches as the remaining 3 imps hesitate, and smirks with mischief, then swings the staff and strikes one, twirls her body along with the staff and strikes the second one.

The third imp tries to run away, but Marisa somersaults in the air while holding on to the staff and lands it right on top of the imp as soon as she drops to the ground on her feet.

As she lifts herself up, she admires what she did, then says "whoa, that was impressive... Even for me, ze!"

Marisa look to Mima, then frowns and starts running again, swinging Mima's staff, twirling around, avoiding attacks, one after another, defeating imp after imp, all popping out of the dark spots in the room, increasing in numbers every time, yet Marisa continues forward, her eyes set on her goal.

Finally, 20 imps stand in her way, blocking what seems the end of the narrow, rocky path, all giggling and snickering amongst themselves.

Marisa narrows her eyes and scowls, then says "get the hell out of my way!"

The little imps jump in groups, all pointing the spike on their helmets straight at Marisa, but she continues to swing Mima's staff with great skill, as though she's done something like this before, eliminating the imps by the numbers, until the last one tries to hide back in the darkness, so Marisa throws the staff at it, striking it hard with the crescent moon end and eliminating it immediately.

After she picks the staff up again, she takes a few well-earned breaths, then realizes her right arm is throbbing, however the sharp pain that rendered her useless is gone.

She clenches her right hand twice, then looks at her palm and says "finally, It's healing!"

She looks forward and says "Mima-sama, I'm almost there!"

Though feeling a little fatigued, Marisa start to run again, but the moment she step out of the rocky path, and on to the smoothed, wide-open floor, the entire cave behind her collapses, and the floor turns to glass tiles.

Marisa twitches and stiffens her body after the sound of rocks crumbling behind her seems to surround her, but as soon as everything settles down again, she relaxes and looks ahead.

Even though she's been running, it seems as though she hasn't even begun to get close to Mima.

She looks curiously as the fact sinks into her mind, however, she tightens her grip on the staff once more and thinks "whatever kind of magic is this, I'll overcome it! Somehow!"

She takes two steps forward, then the third step makes the tiles underneath her illuminate, blinding Marisa while making an annoying whirring sound, covering her eyes by wrapping her arms around her face, then everything stops in a second.

Marisa slowly uncovers her face and takes a look, immediately gasping in horror after looking ahead.

The tiles glow in a set of colors, these ones glowing red, white and brown.

Marisa stares at the colored glass tiles for a moment, then whispers "Reimu!"

From above, the color formation reveals the tiles depicting a faceless Reimu, and while Marisa stands at the lower part of the image, at the head stands another figure.

Marisa's eyes widen as her body trembles, staring at the figure with great terror in her face, then asks "is that really you... Reimu?"

Ahead, stands a figure of a faceless Reimu, holding on to her gohei and quietly staring back at Marisa.

At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu tosses and turns around her futon, clenching her eyes tight while mumbling in her sleep, as if having a nightmare.

In her dream, she stands far away in front of Marisa, trying to call out to her though her voice doesn't come out.

She suddenly loses all feelings in her heart, and her mind fills with the desire to murder her friend.

She sees herself rushing straight at Marisa, who smiles back and waves at her, just to get struck on the head as soon as Reimu reaches, however the second Reimu's gohei touches Marisa's head, the dream shifts.

Now she's a young girl, training inside a dojo, surrounded by various other girls, all holding wooden Japanese swords and swinging them downward repeatedly.

A woman approaches Reimu, smiles tenderly, then says "you're doing very well ****. I think you're ready for the next level."

Reimu blinks, then the woman turns into Marisa, who says "keep it up, and you might surpass me one day, ze."

Reimu springs out of her futon and on to the solid floor on her face, then slowly realizes she was dreaming.

It's a bright summer morning, and outside the only noise that can be heard is the sounds of a few birds chirping as they fly all around and some annoying cicada.

After taking a few breaths, Reimu realizes she's covered in sweat, so she rubs her face and says to herself "what a weird dream. This time it was mixed with... Marisa..."

Reimu sits on the floor and holds her knees with her arms as she continues "geez, what is she doing? I thought she was just looking for a way to seal that thing, but..."

Reimu stares at the tatami floor between her feet and thinks "that's right. She has no magic, all because of what I had to do. Great, now I'm feeling guilty. Geez, I need a bath."

Her thoughts suddenly stop when she hears a girl speaking in the living room, saying "and it looks like that kappa was here. This fan is definitely her work. Oh, and you're even, like, smiling now."

Reimu sighs and whispers "that tengu's back."

She exits her room, carrying a towel and her every-day clothes, and says "well, I see you're back, miss tengu."

Hatate smiles, expanding her chest and striking it lightly with her bandaged arm and says "well of course. I told you I'll make sure Rika-sis gets well."

Reimu lets out a quick smile, then says "well, I need a bath, so please take care of her for me, and I'll make us some breakfast afterward, is that alright?"

Hatate jumps with excitement and exclaims "YEAH", revealing all her limbs are completely bandaged.

Reimu raises her right eyebrow and asks "err, what's with the bandages?"

Hatate blushes with embarrassment, then looks away while saying "i-it's nothing. Nothing at all."

A few minutes later, While Reimu takes her bath, Momiji whispers through the window "pst! Hey, Reimu."

Reimu loudly asks "who the heck is there?"

Momiji shushes Reimu and tosses a rolled-up newspaper through the window.

Reimu complains "I'm not going to subscribe, so just take-"

Momiji interrupts, saying "just read the middle pages. I guarantee, you'll be very glad you did."

With that, Momiji can be heard rushing away.

Reimu curiously opens the newspaper, starts chuckling, then suddenly starts laughing out loud.

Back at the crystal-tiled room, Marisa takes two steps toward the faceless Reimu and says "Reimu! Why are you here! Don't you know it's dangerous?"

Reimu's voice echoes all over the room as she replies "you should know, you traitor! Selfish BRAT!"

Marisa gasps and takes a step back, then softly says "Reimu. Reimu, I'm so sorry. I swear, I never meant to cause you any kind of trouble. I just wanted to help you."

Reimu replies "oh, so that's your newest excuse! You know, I made a mistake back there. I shouldn't have sealed you magic. I should have killed you instead!"

Marisa's face turns pale, her heart seems to break at the harsh words from her friend, feeling as though a cold needle has just entered her heart through her very own bloodstream and is slowly killing her form inside.

Marisa looks at Reimu with longing eyes and says "you-you can't mean that!"

Reimu laughs and says "why don't you just go back home and make some more dangerous experiments? Or better yet, why not just summon death and get it over with."

Marisa hides her eyes under her hat, thinking hard about the situation.

For a moment, doubt takes the best of her and she's about to go back, but she suddenly grips Mima's staff tight, then take an offensive stance.

As she glares back at the faceless Reimu with resolute eyes, a woman's voice inside her head says "Marisa, you have to fight that guilt. Fight, win! Don't be afraid!"

The faceless Reimu giggles, then suddenly rushes toward Marisa, raising her gohei above her head, then Marisa screams out loud as she rushes forward, meeting with the maiden in the middle of the image, then both strike at each other as hard as they can, sparks flying off Mima's staff as the fake Reimu's gohei strikes against it.

Marisa manages to strike down at the fake with her staff, making her kneel down, then says "my real friend would never speak to me that way! Even having to seal my magic was a task for her! A task I wish she never had to go through, but she did, and all because I wanted to help."

Marisa swings her gohei sideways, and although the fake Reimu blocks the attack with her gohei, she is pushed away and knocked on to the floor.

Marisa walks to the creature and points the crescent moon end of the staff at the creature's empty face and says "it's true I didn't pay attention to the warnings, and it's true, in the end, all I've caused is more trouble for Reimu, and all my friends."

The faceless creature manages to kick Marisa away as it springs up to its feet, then rushes to attack the witch.

Marisa manages to jump to the side and avoid a direct gohei to the abdomen, then twirls and strikes the back of the creature as hard a she can, then follows up by grabbing the top part of the staff and striking the creature on its legs, making it fall to the ground once more, then says "I could have just ignored everything, let THEM handle that vortex, let them handle Ail. Heck, I could have just moved to the village!"

The faceless Reimu tries to kick Marisa's ankle, but the witch jumps away at the last second, allowing the creature to stand up and pick its weapon up again.

It rushes after Marisa once more, this time attacking more aggressively, so Marisa ups her efforts and attacks back using as much strength as she can, managing to block the creature's attacks, however she gets pushed back hard to the head of Reimu's image on the crystal tiles.

Marisa feels her right arm throbbing again, but ignores it and continues to stare at the faceless Reimu as it rushes toward her again, then somehow summons great energy to herself, jumps over the creature, and right after landing, she flips and strikes the creature's head with the staff's thin end, turning it to white ashes after it screams in agony.

Marisa takes a deep breath, then calmly says "but I decided to take responsibility. I decided to help and to set everything right again. I may have failed Reimu then, but that doesn't mean I'll just stand around and do nothing. I'll fix my mistake!"

The colored lights in the crystal tiles shut off, and some random tiles fall off, though presenting no danger for Marisa, who looks toward Mima and immediately continues her way.

At first she just walks, but quickly quickens her pace, then finds herself running again.

After running for a while, she suddenly feels as though she being pushed back, yet she manages to continue forward, and the moment her foot touches the next set of tiles, the room glows light-pink, and the tiles turn black, and glow purple and brown.

Marisa stands on the image of Ail, all the way down on his shoes.

On the head, the faceless figure of Ail stands staring menacingly at her, with two imps standing right next to him.

Mid-day at the Human Village.

Kyo stands on the porch of his house, staring toward the sky with contempt.

Medicine walks out of the house with Su-San hovering over her shoulder, then looks at Kyo's face, then says "why the ugly face, Kyo?"

Kyo raises his left hand and says "wait for it~..."

3 seconds later, there is a loud explosion coming from the Bamboo Forest, then the Rabid Karate Night Sparrow flies straight inside the house with a note from Reimu.

Kyo sighs and says "I know the drill, just give me the letter already."

The RKNS tosses the letter at Kyo, who immediately opens it and reads "dear Kyo, today you have a very special mission. You'll be going to Eintei to find out what's the deal with those explosions."

Kyo stops reading and looks at Medicine, then asks "what's so special about that?"

Medicine and Su-San shrug at the same time, then Kyo continues reading "by now you are wondering what's so special about Eintei. Well it's not Eintei that's special, so don't make that face."

Kyo stops reading, revealing a very annoyed face, then asks "how the hell did she know?"

Medicine quickly replies "she knows you're an ape."

Kyo grabs Medicine by the back of her neck and starts waving her around the air, and amongst her complaining, he finishes reading "now, let Medicine go and open the door. Your backup should be there by now."

Kyo places Medicine back on the floor and asks "backup? We need backup?"

There's a knock on the door, so Kyo immediately reaches for it, and after he opens it up, he gasps and exclaims "AIL! Is that you!"

On the porch are Ail and Budou, both smiling as they look back at Kyo's surprised face.

Ail finally chuckles and asks "Kyo, how are you buddy?"

Kyo grabs Ail and gives him a bone-crushing hug, making his back crack as he squeezes the air out of him, then exclaims "Ail! Buddy! You're back! It's great to see you back to normal!"

After Kyo places him back on the floor, Ail coughs and gasps for air, then says "as normal *gasp* as I'll ever be, buddy."

Kyo turns his attention to Budou, then exclaims "Budou! How are you? Where have you been? You haven't come to training in a while."

Budou scratches her cheek and looks away while saying "well, um, that is... I've been busy."

While Luna walks down the stairs, Kyo looks at Ail and Budou, then asks "so you're going to be my backup?"

Ail nods and says "that's right. Reimu even said something about this rabid... night sparrow helping out, but... A little sparrow?"

Kyo and Luna panic, then Luna says "shh, you fool. Careful what you say about him! You'll be sorry!"

Ail and Budou look at each other with confusion, then stare back at the terrorized faces of their friends.

Before Ail can ask any more, the RKNS swoops down from the second floor and chirps rapidly, while Ail automatically offers his finger as a perch.

Ail stares at the bird as it lands on his finger, then looks into his cute little eyes.

His face turns blue, his eyes hiding under shadow as he sweats with fear, then says "sorry sir! I won't question you again, sir!"

The RKNS chirps once, then salutes Ail, who salutes back, then flies away, heading toward the Bamboo Forest.

Budou looks up at Ail, then Kyo and Luna, then face palms and says "oy. And they're supposed to be the mighty warriors here."

Back at the ample pink lit room, Marisa stares at the faceless Ail and the two imps next to him, then readies herself for another fight.

Ail's voice echoes all over the room as he says "you tricked me! You said you were my friend, then used me to open up that gate. I died, but you, oh, you just came out of that like nothing happened!"

Marisa shouts "I tried to save you!"

Ail's voice scoffs, then continues "for what? So my body could roam around without a soul? So that the ones who care for me so much wouldn't shun you? So that you could be at peace with yourself! Don't piss me off!"

Marisa raises the staff side-ways up to her face, glaring at the faceless Ail as she says "maybe at first, but a demon like you would never understand. I care for my friends, and my reasons for saving Ail's life goes beyond petty feelings like that!"

The faceless Ail and the two imps rush toward Marisa, who rushes forward as well, and the second they meet on the image of Ail's violet shirt, Marisa swings the crescent staff and immediately strikes out the two imps, however, the faceless Ail manages to jump away in time.

Marisa clenches her teeth and growl, ignoring a tickling sensation in her right arm, then says "I never would have gone along with the opening of that gate if I had known it had such high stakes!"

Ail's voice echoes as he says "don't make me laugh, little witch! Even knowing the dangers, you would have gone along with it. You are too selfish! The only REAL reason you did all that was to show off! To prove others what a great magician you are!"

Marisa chases after the creature, swinging the staff with all her might, but missing miserably since the creature keeps reading her moves and flees accordingly.

A woman's voice inside Marisa's head says "don't let him provoke you. Calm down. Use your head!"

Marisa realizes the creature is leading her toward the unlit tiles, and out of curiosity, she approaches the edges of the violet tiles, then pokes the outside tiles with the staff.

The crystals tiles shatter and break apart immediately after being touched, making Marisa gasp with surprise and backs away, however the faceless Ail is already behind her, ready to push her away from the safe tiles, but Marisa manages to twirl away, using the staff itself to build momentum, and when she's behind the creature, she unleashes her attack, but the creature quickly ducks and jumps away.

After he lands back on the image of Ail's head, he points at Marisa and says "relying on that staff. Pheh! You always rely on the power of others! Die with dignity! Use your own!"

Marisa grumbles, then runs straight at him, raising the staff high in the air.

The creature stands still, confident that Marisa will miss him again, and as soon as she swings the staff, he jumps away once more, however Marisa sticks the staff firmly on the crystal tile and uses the momentum to swing around and land a kick on the creature.

As she swings, her right foot is surrounded by a blue light, gaining even more strength and speed, striking the faceless Ail right on its abdomen and turning him to shards of glass after a loud groan.

Marisa lands on her left knee while looking at her shoe, then thinks "so the magical mushroom paste is still active, I see."

As she stands up, she grabs the staff and says "I saved Ail because I care about him, as any friend! The thought may have crossed my mind, but saving his life was my main concern, and not just of what Sanae and Budou would think of me. And just because I ask my friends for help doesn't mean I rely on their power! I have my own!"

She pulls the staff free, then the tiles turn back to clear, and the room turns blue once more.

After Marisa takes a deep breath, the woman's voice that speaks to her mind says with glee "ah, so glad to hear that. Good, that means you won't be needing this staff anymore."

Mima's crescent moon staff disappears right out of Marisa's hand, making Marisa feel a little nervous.

She looks around, her heart suddenly racing as a cold chill runs through her spine, then she shouts "hey, wait! That's not what I meant! What if those things come back!"

The woman's voice echoes all over the room, saying "don't be afraid, child. You have all you'll ever need to keep yourself safe. You might even possess the power to protect, and even save others."

Marisa runs a few steps and jumps up while shouting, hoping her voice will reach whoever is talking back to her as she says "my magic is sealed! I need help!"

When she lands back on the tiles, the fear she was pushing back creeps itself over her once more.

Marisa looks around, hoping to find Mima's staff somewhere, but instead, when she looks back, instead of finding Mima's staff she realizes the tiles are all falling down, threatening to take her with them if she doesn't move.

She moves quickly, breathing heavily as she runs as fast as her feet can take her, however the speed in which the tiles fall is much faster than the speed she can run at, so in one last ditch effort, Marisa jumps high and lands on a solid, glass platform.

She opens her eyes and slowly gets back up on her feet, realizing she is still on the crystal tiles.

As she looks forward, her face turns blue, filling up with great terror when she realizes the glass tiles are now depicting herself, and sure enough, her faceless self stands on the head of her image, standing sideways and crossing its arms across its chest, hiding its empty face under its hat, accompanied by what seems like hundreds of the little imps.

Marisa starts to tremble, wanting to run away, while her own voice echoes all over the room, saying "welcome, useless witch!"

Late noon at Eintei.

Ail walks into the courtyard on his own and calmly approaches the Mansion's entrance.

He stands on the porch and is just about to knock on the door, when Kaguya startles him as she comes from behind and asks "oh, it's Ail. Are you still a mindless zombie?"

Ail twitches in fright, then suddenly turns around, looking as normal as he can, then says "I wasn't a zombie. My body was just acting on subconscious. Um, anyway, err, hi, how are you?"

Kaguya stares at Ail, then blinks twice, flips her hair at him, then asks "what's it to you? In any case, what are you doing here?"

Ail sweats and mumbles "so unfriendly. Guess I can't blame her", then says "I came here to investigate the recent explosions. Know anything about that?"

Kaguya smiles, then says "I haven't heard any explosions."

From farthest rooms of the mansion, there is a loud explosion that rocks the entire courtyard, then Reisen screams "ah~! I'm sorry!"

Eirin screams back "stop moving already!"

Reisen shouts back "stop being so unreasonable!"

Eirin shouts back "Udonge~! Don't make me use the syringe again~."

Reisen screams "no~! Please, Master, have mercy~! KYAH~!"

After everything quiets down again, Ail smiles very friendly-like at Kaguya, who sweats and smiles back while giggling nervously.

Still smiling, Ail says in a very friendly tone "you have two choices. Either let us in and investigate peacefully, or we'll go in the usual way."

Even though Kaguya smiles back, a vein pulsates on her forehead as she raises a spell card and says "you have no chance against the princess of the Moon, mister."

Ail smiles back, raising his own spell card, then says "I would have been so disappointed if we didn't get to dance today."

Kaguya's smile turns to a confident half-smile as she flies up to the sky and shouts "New Impossible Request! Seamless Ceiling of Kinkaku-ji!"

Ail flies up to meet Kaguya and smiles as he says "looks interesting. Alright guys! Go inside while I take care of this."

Kaguya shoots two yellow beams in straight lines beside herself, and repeats the beams, all in different sizes, then unleashes a barrage of random light-blue, blue, green and red orbs at Ail.

While Budou, Medicine, the RKNS, Kyo and Luna run inside the mansion, Kaguya gasps and exclaims "hey, that's cheating!"

Ail carefully dodges as many of the attacks he can while smiling and saying "hey, hey, focus on the battle, alight. Mad Waves, Raging Waves."

Ail unleashes 6 sets of 8 blue extra-large orbs beside him, two of those lines lying horizontally underneath him, while the rest set vertically around him.

Underneath the large orbs scatter countless blue shard bullets that move fast toward Kaguya, wiping out her danmaku as they move along.

Afterward, the extra-large orbs move toward Kaguya, trailed by watery waves that release more scattered shard bullets.

Kaguya is overwhelmed, her face filled with both fright and disappointment, however she intensifies her own spell and shouts "I'll teach you not to mess with me!"

Meanwhile, on the farthest end of the rooms corridor in the mansion, Kyo and company continue to walk down the quiet corridor.

Kyo is about to ask if they really are in the right place, but a sudden scream form Reisen gets his attention, then Luna beats him from saying "it's the room up ahead!"

Ignoring the grumbling Kyo, the girls all rush to the room and immediately pull open the sliding door, finding Reisen with half of her skirt burned away, her upper shirt turning to ashes on her shoulders, and the left sleeve of her undershirt is completely gone.

The moon rabbit yelps and shouts "wait, look away!"

The RKNS rushes inside and immediately some loud angry chirps accompany smacking sounds, along with Eirin and Tewi's grunts and calls for help.

A few moments later, Eirin, Tewi and Reisen, who covers herself up with a blanket, all kneels on the ground with apologetic faces, then Eirin says "you didn't have to beat us up like that."

Tewi adds "yeah! We did nothing wrong!"

Kyo sighs angrily, then ask "so that's it? That's the reason for all the explosions?"

Eirin nods and says "what's the big deal anyway? Just because there are continuous explosions, doesn't mean there's an incident."

Luna and Medicine sweat, then Luna smiles and says "you really need to check that brain of yours, miss genius."

Kaguya's scream reaches all the way into the room, followed by a splash and an explosion, then Eirin springs to her feet and shouts "it's the princess!"

She pushes Medicine, Budou and Luna out of the way as she rushes to the entrance, then Kyo comments "and she was just talking about explosions, wasn't she?"

Everyone in the room, even the RKNS, nod at Kyo's statement.

Inside the ample dark-blue room, Marisa stands at the very end of the crystal tiled path, the tiles depicting an image of herself, and on the head of that image, a faceless version of herself stands accompanied by hundreds of little imps, all eager to attack.

The fear in Marisa's face is undeniable; she wants to turn back and run away, but the path behind her is gone.

Marisa turns her attention to her faceless self, as her own voice echoes all over the room, saying "how typical. You rather just run away instead of facing your fears. Well, go ahead. Jump. Down there, you'll find freedom from this wretched life. I mean, a magician without magic? There's nothing for you to live for anymore."

Marisa starts to breathe with effort as those words slowly sink into her heart. She tries to fight it and shouts "that's not true! The yama said I-"

Her own voice sounds like thunder as it echoes in the room, saying "and you believe that! You fool! She only said that out of pity from how WEAK and pathetic you truly are. Face it, without your magic, you are just a faceless worm in an endless desert."

Marisa drops to her knees and covers her face with her hands, despair taking over her body, the imps slowly approaching her, some looking hungry, while others have a look of bloodlust on their faces.

Marisa's voice echoes around the room as she says "now die as the nothing you are. Your sacrifice will be an amusement for the master's wedding, and after that, he'll send your precious maiden friend to hell with you. Who knows, maybe he'll be merciful and send all your friends with you."

The words echo inside Marisa's mind, then Reimu's voice speaks loud inside her mind, loudly saying "Marisa, look at what you did! You got me killed! Thanks a lot!"

Before even Marisa herself realizes what happened, she stands on her feet and shouts "Instrument Signs! Orrery's Sun!"

Four magical orbs, red, blue, green and yellow, circle around Marisa, and without realizing it, she unleashes multi-colored stars from her hands, and the orbs react accordingly, and long before the stars hit their targets, Marisa joins her hands together and says "taste Narrow Spark!", and unleashes a thick beam of light, and the orbs around her react accordingly, eliminating more than half of the surprised imps.

Marisa's faceless self reacts with surprise, her own voice echoing, saying "n-no! This is impossible! You're not supposed to have magic!"

Marisa raises her right arm, the make-shift bandages from Wriggle slipping off and revealing the gash properly healed and sealed, though still in need of some treatment.

Marisa ignores this and simply glares at her faceless self.

With righteous fury in her voice, she says "oy! Why don't I send you and your precious master to hell instead! Leave Reimu, and all my friends alone, ze?"

Marisa's broom rushes to Marisa's hand, coming from deeper within the cave, however Marisa doesn't seem to realize what's going on yet, and subconsciously mounts her broom and takes flight.

She looks down on her image on the tiles, the still countless imps, and her faceless self, then says "meet my... Stardust Reverie!"

Marisa rushes toward her faceless self, flying close to the ground and releasing countless bright multi-colored stars, eliminating many of the imps, making the remaining imps run away and jump down to the abyss, and just as she reaches the faceless creature, she veers our of the way, surrounding it with stars.

Marisa hovers on her broom just above the tiles, then says "I've already caused Reimu enough trouble! I won't allow you to cause her any more! Comet, Blazing Star!"

Marisa and her broom are engulfed in a bright and powerful aura, then Marisa flies at the speed of a comet and strikes her faceless self hard, sending its body flying several feet in the air.

Marisa lands on the tiles, ahead from where the creature is falling to, then says "I'm not done with you! Take Miasma Sweep!"

She rises to the air while holding her broom upright, and the second the creature's body makes contact with the broom, Marisa shouts "Star Sign, Escape Velocity!"

The energy on the tip of the broom intensifies and Marisa flies higher in the air, splitting her faceless self in two and making it turn to a white ash as it falls to the glass tiles.

Marisa lands back down on the glass tiles with her broom at hand, then looks toward where the ashes fell and says "I made many mistakes, and I paid dearly for them. But I promised myself, even without my magic, I am going to fix all of this, for Reimu and all my friends."

The glass tiles start to tremble, threatening to fall in unison and take her with them, so Marisa jumps on her broom and avoids plunging to the void, then smiles as she looks toward Mima, who seems closer, and says "but before I do that, I have to save my teacher, ze."

Marisa flies at great speed toward her mentor and reaches a stone path, however she doesn't stop and continues her flight.

While she does, countless imps, some even riding on giant bats, creep out of the darkness, all aiming to take her down, however she just smiles confidently at them, and without hesitation, she unleashes a barrage of magical spells, turning them all to bits of glass, sand and ashes, doing so casually and naturally.

Late night at the Hakurei Shrine.

Hatate, with her bandaged limbs, and Aya, with her bandaged butt and legs, scheme of ways to take out Momiji, all while caring for Rika and helping Reimu, though Hatate does so for Rika herself, while Aya does so for Reimu.

Reimu stares at them and calmly says "look, the only reason she posted that in her paper, is because you attacked her first, so why don't you just leave Momiji alone."

Aya and Hatate stare at her for a moment, then ignore her and continue their plotting.

Kyo, Luna and Medicine land right in front of the porch, Luna immediately calling "evening~! Miss Reimu~"

Reimu walks out of the shrine with a worried and surprised look on her face as she says "well, finally. I though you guys were waiting for an invitation or something."

Kyo growls and says "aw, give us a break already."

Reimu sighs, placing her hands on her hips, raising her left eyebrow, then asks "so, did you manage to find out about the explosions?"

Medicine smiles and giggles, then says "oh yes. But we can't tell you here."

Before Reimu can ask, Luna points at the two tengu right behind her and says "because certain crow-like parrots might blab."

Both Hatate and Aya frown and angrily say "hey~!", then Hatate says "I'm a crow, not a parrot!"

Aya adds "black feathers! I see no green or blue, sister!"

Reimu shuts the doors behind her, completely ignoring the complains from the tengu, then walks along Kyo, Luna and Medicine, then asks "so, what was it?"

Once they reach the back of the shrine, Kyo laughs and says "those idiots were trying to turn their danmaku into fireworks for some celebration. A surprise, they said."

Luna giggles and says "they were using Reisen's powers to try and aid them..."

Medicine finishes "but it turns out they were just lacking some control."

Reimu stares at them with both disgust and disbelief, then asks "that's it? All those explosions for that?"

Kyo, Luna and Medicine laugh, then Kyo says out loud "yeah, can you believe them!"

From the roof, Suika says "those aliens sure seem like fun. Who knows, I might go and help them a bit."

Kyo and Medicine both twitch and sweat, while Luna neutrally stares back at Suika and says "no, miss oni. Please keep quiet about this."

Suika drops from the roof and says "don't worry, I won't let them know you told me."

Reimu ignores them all and rubs her chin while thinking, then snaps her fingers and asks "hey, whatever happened to Ail and Budou... and the little sparrow?"

Kyo, Luna and Medicine look at each other for a while, then drop to the ground to laugh hard, while Reimu and Suika stare at them with great curiosity.

At Eintei, Ail wears an apron over a black kimono made especially for him, while Budou wears an aquamarine kimono with pink cloud designs on it.

Eirin angrily calls "mister rough brute, the princess needs your help."

Ail looks at Budou with a very saddened expression and says "next time remind me I need to hold back."

Budou nods and says "sure thing, papa. Now let's go before she starts crying."

After walking to the corridor, a sealing arrow stuck on Ail's back becomes evident for all to see.

Kaguya sits in her room on a concentration of pillows with her left leg in a cast, and her right shoulder completely bandaged.

She smiles at Ail and Budou, then says "get me some tea and snacks in under 5 seconds."

Ail bows and says "immediate, miss Kaguya", then as he and Budou turn around, the little bat sweats and whispers "but that's impossible."

Ail smiles back and says "thank the gods, my little girl."

Outside, on the courtyard, Tewi and the RKNS have Sanae hanging upside down, tied by her ankle, angrily saying "let me GO! I want Ail back, right NOW!"

Tewi wears large sunglasses and bites on a grain stem and says "sorry madam, but I'm gonna have to ask you to calm down."

From the left comes the RKNS and chirps angrily, then Sanae shouts "I DON'T GIVE DAMN! I WANT HIM AWAY FROM THAT PRINCESS! And stop taking photos of my underwear!"

From far away, Mokou watches the situation, but simply shrugs as she shakes her head, then she hears Sanae screaming "ACK! No~! My underwear, you mangy bird! AAHH~"

Marisa is now mere feet away from reaching Mima.

She doesn't realize this is her 3rd day inside the cave, as she feels as fresh as from the moment she entered.

The few imps that remain behind her peek at her from the shadows, but not one dares approach her as she looks up to Mima, who floats above a large round room lit with prism colors, inside an orb made from light.

She jumps from her broom and thinks "there has to be danger nearby, or my magic would surely be sealed again by now. Need to stay focused. I have to save Mima."

She walks toward the large round room, and the moment she sets foot in it, the room expands and the floor lights up, showing the images of a black and white dragon, sitting next to a small, sad human, a large shrine with a crying maiden and an angel caring for her, and a vast forest with a destroyed house in the middle of it.

She recognizes the images as the void between paradises, the Hakurei Shrine, and her own, destroyed house in the Forest of Magic.

She gasps and whispers "Reimu... my friends. I have to fix this. But first, I have to save Mima!"

She takes a few steps toward the center of the room, her steps sounding like she's stepping on metal.

From the roof fall a few stones that sound like shattering glass when they hit the floor, and the pieces that break from the rock sound like wind-chimes.

When she reaches half-way of the center, the floor starts to shine, making a loud whirring sound, then stops.

When she opens her eyes again, the image on the floor changes to a faceless picture of Mima, and the small oil presser youkai standing on the head of the picture.

Marisa narrows her eyes as she stars at him, then says "wait a minute. You're the master of this cave!"

The creature nods and calmly says "that's right. Now, if you'd be so kind as to return me my ring, so I can marry this surface dweller and my revenge on that accursed yama and her world of light."

Marisa looks at the small creature with confusion, then it says to her "that's right. The ring is inside that hat of yours, so please give it back."

Marisa unconsciously asks "what will you do to Mima-sama!"

The creature calmly replies "I see. She's your master. Well, I'm afraid that once we're married, she'll have to stay here in my stead until I return. And honestly, I have no intension of returning soon. Maybe a few thousand years."

Marisa scowls and clenches her teeth, then says "I'm taking Mima back with me."

The creature stats to chuckle, then his voice suddenly gets louder as he says "my, so confident, just because some of your powers have returned to you. It seems I have no choice. You know, I really like you, since thanks to you and that magical shockwave you sent my way, woke me up and gave me amazing powers."

Marisa twitches and backs away, thinking "no, not again! Marisa, what have you done!"

The creature's voice turns monstrous as he calmly says "now, miss Marisa Kirisame, since you won't cooperate willingly, I'll have to destroy you. Farewell."

The creature gets consumed in darkness and suddenly, it's body starts to grow a hundred times its own size, roaring furiously, taking a monstrous shape, then the darkness around it lifts away like a curtain from a theatre stage.

He now has the head of a wolf, the neck of a dragon, the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle, the tail of a demon, and on the tip of the tail, a threatening snake-head that hisses at Marisa, showing it's many times her own size in comparison.

At first, Marisa is overtaken by fear once more, but after seeing Mima floating behind the monster, she steels herself.

The monster roars once more, sending a powerful magical gust of wind that almost blows Marisa away, however she manages to keep her footing.

She smirks with confidence, then scoffs and says "I'm not gonna let you win, I'm sorry to say."

The monster shouts "once you are dead, I plan on eating your delicious-looking body!"

Marisa places a hand on her chest and jokingly says "I am delicious, ze."

The monster roars again, then swings its claws and flaps its wings, sending 2 massive white shockwaves of energy toward Marisa from the left and right, so Marisa flies closer to the creature and shouts "Love Sign, Master Spark~!"

She pulls her Hakkero right from under her hat and chants into it, then a powerful multi-colored beam flies fast toward the creature's head, making it cover its face and roar in pain.

Once the beam dies out, Marisa flies higher, then smiles confidently at the monster.

The creature screams, then says "you wretched little human. I'll make you suffer for that!"

Marisa confidently replies "I've heard that one before, ze."

The monster raises its body and expands its arms and wings, and from all over his body, massive petal bullets, orbs, shards, and snowy bullet pellets rise and head straight to Marisa.

She frowns, then grabs on tightly to her broom while carefully swaying left and right and up and down, trying her best to avoid being hit, then the monster swings its claws and flaps its wings, sending 4 white energy shockwaves at her, then suddenly opens its mouth and start spitting out a stream of intense blue fire.

Marisa yelps and looks around herself, then closes her eyes as she concentrates, then shouts "Love Sign, Non-Directional Laser!"

4 orbs of red, blue, green and yellow surround Marisa and start firing an intense beam while circling around, eliminating all the bullets and protecting Marisa from the fire, while she concentrates on dodging the energy shockwaves, and once she's clear, she flies up to the monster's head with her spell still active.

She smiles and winks at the monster and says "specialty of the house!"

As soon as the spell cancels out, Marisa shouts "Star Sign, Dragon Meteor!"

She aims her Hakkero downward toward the beast's head, then unleashes a powerful multi-colored beam that hits the monster so hard, it falls on all four limbs.

After the attack finishes, Marisa lands in front of the creature, breathing with difficulty, but still smiling with confidence, then says "and now, to put you back to sleep. Perverse Love, Easy-Harvest Master Spark!"

After declaring her spell, Marisa winces and groans, but keeps her footing while holding on to her Hakkero with both hands.

First, a thin beam flies straight to the creature, penetrating and going right through its body, then the beam violently expands, making the creature scream so loud the entire cave trembles.

Marisa tries her best to hold her footing, but at the last moment, the force of the beam pushes her back and sends her flying a few feet away.

She manages to quickly stand back up, then finds the oil presser back to his feeble shape, knocked on the ground and sleeping like a log.

Breathing with effort, Marisa approaches the little youkai, pulls her hat off, then rummages through it, finding a circular stone in the shape of a ring, yet large enough to be a bracelet, then looks at it.

She takes a deep breath, then says "there's gotta be a reason the yama sealed you all the way down here, so..."

She tosses the stone ring to the air and fires a tick blue beam from her hands, shattering it in the process.

After it falls in pieces to the now rocky floor, she looks at Mima and says "I'm coming, Mima!"

Marisa looks like is in bad shape, tired and dirty, yet she pushes forward.

She flies toward Mima and touches the orb of light.

For a moment, it shines brighter, then dims down, revealing a smiling evil spirit floating in front of her flying apprentice, then expands her arms and gives Marisa a hug, saying "Marisa, you did it! You finally unlocked you magic! YES! I knew a good incentive might trigger this!"

Marisa is barely able to open her eyes, but the surprise is evident in her expression as she asks "wait, what? You mean this was your...?"

Mima giggles and smiles, then says "yup! This was your test. And you passed! Congratulations!"

Marisa starts to tremble as the rage rises from the pit of her stomach, all the way up to her head, but before she can scream her head off, the cave starts to rumble violently and the roof start collapsing.

Mima gasps and says "oh crap! I was afraid of this."

Marisa angrily asks "what now!"

Mima smiles nervously and says "now don't panic, but since you knocked him out, a good chunk of this cave is going to collapse on top of our heads."

Marisa screams "WHAT!", and in seconds, she and Mima are flying as fast as they both can, trailing back the way Marisa came through.

Marisa shouts "wait! The path is closed! Wriggle!"

Mima shouts "it's ok! The magical effects of the cave should be dissolving!"

The door in which Marisa came through is open, and on the other side, Wriggle waves at Marisa, shouting "HEY~! What happened! Oh, miss spirit!"

Marisa flies first through the door and grabs Wriggle by the back of her shirt and places her behind herself on her broom, then shouts "Wriggle, I thought you were dead!"

Wriggle shouts back "oh, you mean the giant bats! It turns out those fangs weren't that hard. They broke real easy!"

Marisa shouts back "that's great, Wriggle! Very glad to see you're alright. Now let's get the HECK out of here!"

Marisa, Wriggle and Mima continue their way through the lime-green passage as it loses its light and start collapsing, then they reach the center of the cave, which in reality is one gigantic abyss.

Marisa shouts "stop gawking Mima-sama! FLY!", then both continue to speed through the cave.

After a small while, Wriggle comments "miss Marisa, this is where that bridge...!"

Marisa shouts "not now, not now! We have to... OH NO!"

Marisa and Mima need to take a sudden turn as gigantic rocks fall right in front of them, however the detour costs them some time, and the back of Marisa's broom is hit by one of the large falling stones, knocking her and Wriggle right off the broom.

Wriggle Manages to grab the broom and Marisa and fly for a bit along with Mima's help, but they slow down too much and the few lights in the cave die out, then the only thing they can hear in the darkness is the crumbling of the ceiling, the walls and the floor.

After some time, everything quiets down, and inside the darkness, Wriggle asks "hey... miss spirit, miss Marisa, are you guys alright?"

Marisa groans, then says "I... think so."

Mima adds "um, I swear, this wasn't part of the plan."

Marisa angrily says "oh really? What a relief!"

There is a moment of awkward silence, then Marisa suddenly says "well, whatever. I'm just glad you're alright. And... thanks. If it wasn't for this experience, I probably wouldn't have seen what was truly holding me back."

Mima giggles and says "aww, you're welcome kiddo~!"

Wriggle groans and says "hey, you're crushing me."

Marisa weakly chuckles, then suddenly gasps, startling Mima and Wriggle, who asks "what? What is it, miss Marisa?"

Marisa whispers "someone's singing..."

Marisa summons a white orb of light to her hand and says "it's coming from outside! Come, follow me!"

Mima and Wriggle stand up, looking at Marisa with curiosity, then Mima says "oy, your overexerting yourself. Take it easy with the magic."

Marisa replies "not now~! Follow me!"

At first, the two youkai think Marisa's lost her head, leading them through tight corridors and over collapsed sections, but when they start seeing the light of the exit, they also hear a soothing voice, singing a beautiful song.

Mima exclaims "whoa, what a beautiful voice."

Wriggle asks "is that Mystia?"

Marisa suddenly stops and asks "Shanghai, is that you?"

Shanghai suddenly calls "mama Alice, I found them!"

From outside, Alice says "good job, sweetie. Bring them back. Hourai, don't stop singing."

As the song continues, Marisa, Wriggle and Mima slowly follow Shanghai, who says "keep your eyes on me. Don't even blink, or you could get lost."

Finally, after some time, on the afternoon of the 3rd day, Marisa, Wriggle and Mima exit the magical cave.

Hourai stops singing and gives Shanghai a hug, then the tiny girls give Alice a neck hug and Hourai exclaims "we did it! We got them out of there at last!"

Marisa, who looks very tired, turns around and asks "what do you... mean... at last? We were only in there a few... hours."

Alice sighs and says "wow, you really lost track of everything, didn't you."

Marisa, Mima and Wriggle look confused at Alice, then Shanghai says "you were in there for 3 whole days!"

Alice giggles and adds "but it's alright. The important thing is you guys are safe now. Anyway, miss Komachi said she'd be waiting for us at the Eintei Clinic so... Marisa, are you alright?"

Marisa's body trembles and sways, yet Marisa still smiles and says "I'm fine. Just fine, z..."

Marisa drops on her knees, then face-first to the ground, exhaustion finally getting the best of her.

All the girls gasp and call for her, then Mima sighs with relief and says "silly girl. She pushed herself too far. She's still weakened from the seal."

Alice asks "even when it's this weak?"

Mima nods, then grabs Marisa, lifting her on her shoulder, then says "let's get her to the clinic. We have to go there anyway, right?"

Wriggle sighs, then says "that's excellent. I'll make sure she's alright, then I can go back home for some rest."

Alice stares at Wriggle for a moment, then looks at her pants.

Wriggle shrugs and asks "what? Never seen a girl wear..."

Before she can finish, Mystia flies above them and sings "chin-chin~! Chin-chin~!"

Wriggle clenches her fists, raises them at chest height, then shouts "I'm a girl already!"

A silver washtub falls right on her head, making her antennas bend, and her eyes spin, as she tries to keep herself on her feet.

After she recovers, she realizes Alice, the tiny girls, and Mima, who carries Marisa, are already on their way.

Wriggle sighs, then says "geez, after all that and I still get no respect."

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Kyo, Luna and the RKNS were created by Willie G.R.

Ail's Mad Waves, Raging Waves spell card was created by Willie G.R.

May 10 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

**A/N:**

**Phew. Took a bit longer than I thought, but it's done. Heh, weekends and its distractions. What a pain. Anyway, I am sure some of you may have noticed it, but for those who didn't, a lot of the inspiration for this chapter, particularly the first parts, was Kingdom Hearts. Even though there is a strong reference to this, I made sure to keep it original as well. I must say, that game has such an amazing story. OMG! Thi... this is impossible! No goddess abuse? I must be losing it. Oh well, at least I messed someone up.**

**Also, thank you very much for showing your support once more. Really, the comments/reviews REALLY are great for me and I welcome them, so keep sending them my way. Heh, some of those even helped me improve my writing from before. Ah well, again, thank you for showing me your support. See you next chapter, if the spirits will allow, and take care.**


	23. Chapter 23

Morning at Eintei.

Wriggle watches as Tewi busily digs a hole in the middle of one of the paths in the mansion's courtyard, while waiting to hear good news from Eirin, who has been treating Marisa all this time.

A few minutes pass and Tewi's hole digging is over, and the hole she made is covered perfectly, yet Wriggle continues to watch from a distance on the roof of the mansion.

Reisen suddenly walks out of the clinic, calling "miss Mima, miss Nightbug. Marisa is- KYAH~!"

Just like that, Reisen walks straight into the trap and falls.

Tewi approaches the hole, looks down with bored eyes, then says "this is starting to get boring, you know. Give me some challenge next time."

Reisen glares back at Tewi and shouts "if you want a challenge, I'll GIVE you one, you creepy little-"

Tewi leaves as soon as Mima and Wriggle approach the hole, and as soon as Reisen notices this, she quiets down.

Wriggle and Mima extend their arms and promptly help Reisen back up, Mima asking "so, what was it about Marisa?"

Reisen gasps, then excitedly says "oh that's right. She's regaining her consciousness."

Wriggle and Mima look at each other, then smile and gasp.

Inside the clinic, Eirin aims a flashlight at Marisa's eye, which she forcefully opens up, then casually says "well, miss witch. Welcome back. You had us pretty scared there."

Marisa starts to moan and move around, then softly asks "where am I?"

Mima phases through the door, exclaiming "MARISA! You're awake! And about time too!"

As Wriggle and Reisen enter through the door, Marisa slowly opens her eyes after groaning and stretching, then asks "what? You mean I was out for a while?"

Eirin coldly answers "two days. During that time, I had to revitalize you, add plenty nutrients for your body, and recover you from dehydration. It's a miracle you're even alive."

Marisa manages to smile and says "I'm just not ready to go, ze."

From the door enters Komachi, saying "well, if you keep that up, I'll be coming to pick you up in no time, so please take better care of yourself. Life is too precious to just give up, and honestly, after all that, to just die would really make someone I know quite aggravated."

Marisa opens her eyes wide and exclaims "it was you! But how?"

Komachi smiles and says "the second you entered that cave, Shiki-sama and I mobilized to rescue you, but after seeing miss Mima's plan ahead in full, we decided to lend you a hand instead."

Marisa looks around, then exclaims "what about Mima-sama's staff!"

Mima smiles and replies "calm down. She gave it back to me when we got here."

Komachi smiles, then says "lucky thing I was there too. That monster was one right nasty piece of work. He would have had you for a snack if I hadn't cut off that creepy tail."

Marisa stares at Komachi some more, then smiles and say "I see. So I'm back to walking?"

Komachi's smile widens and says "no~! Not at all. In fact, Eiki-sama regrets she couldn't be here to do this herself, but..."

Komachi pulls out a familiar flaming orange key from her pocket, then sticks it into Marisa's chest and softly says "with this, the seal is completely broken. However, due to its nature, you'll have to wait just a little longer before you are at full power once again."

Komachi turns the key, making a clicking sound, then the key vanishes.

Marisa gasps with surprise, then suddenly breaks a smile and hugs Komachi out of impulse.

Wriggle says "miss Marisa, there's still more."

Komachi manages to break free from Marisa's hug, then says "well, that was unexpected, ha-hah. Well, the thing is, that vortex has gotten really powerful, and we're afraid that even with your preparations, it might just not be enough to seal it, even with Reimu's amulet on it... so."

Marisa looks worried toward Mima, then Wriggle, then asks "w-was Reimu here?"

Mima smiles and nods, then says "she came by, but she had to leave quickly. Rika seems to be sick too."

Marisa looks down and says "oh, I see. Well, any suggestions on how I should close that gate, shini..."

When Marisa and the others realize it, Komachi is long gone, then Marisa frowns and asks "so what am I supposed to do about that gate?"

Before anybody can answer, Hatate flies in a hurry inside the clinic and shouts "miss Eirin! Rika-sis is waking up! The maiden said that you, like, wanted to know when she woke up."

Eirin and Reisen smile, then Eirin says "I'm sorry, miss Marisa. I need to take this house call."

Marisa smiles, nods, then says "go ahead, ze."

Outside, at the back of the Eintei mansion, Komachi hangs on to the edges of the roof, and thinks "Eiki-sama, these disappearing acts are too much. I'm going to have to ask for a vacation after this."

Meanwhile, at the Moriya Shrine, Ail and Budou help Yuki and Koishi as they finish repairing the shrine's roof, Sanae hums contently as she sweeps the courtyard, and Suwako and Kanako cook their own breakfast with sad, narrowed eyes.

Suwako whispers "just because we peeked."

Kanako whispers back "ara~ Keep quiet, or she'll extend our punishment again."

On the roof, while Ail and Budou paint the repaired sections of the roof, Yuki and Koishi, who look bored, annoyed and tired, hammer down the last 5 pieces of the new roof tiles in place.

From below, Sanae calls "Ail, Budou~! Do you want anything to drink?"

Budou replies "no thanks, mama!"

Ail continues "we're fine!"

Sanae happily replies "ok! Tell me if you need anything."

Yuki shouts "hey, I'm really thirsty! Could you get me some wa-"

Before she finishes her sentence, Sanae turns around and continues sweeping the floor.

Yuki grumbles, then Koishi sighs and says "just drink from the lake already. But don't drink too much. The fish do go there."

Yuki's face turns blue as she stares at Koishi, then says "I... I'm not thirsty anymore, thanks."

A little while later, as Ail and Budou switch from tiles to paint the recently installed ones, Mima speaks inside Ail's mind, saying "Ail, it's Mima. Where are you?"

While he continues to work, in his mind he speaks with Mima as though they stand right next to each other.

He smiles and replies "I missed this link. I'm at the Moriya Shrine. Something wrong?"

Mima replies "it's Rika. She's waking up. You need to go to the Hakurei Shrine and show her now, while she's recovering."

Ail nods and says "sure thing, but... why is it so important to show her?"

Mima scowls and says "if you don't do this right now, she might misunderstand and attack you, and that's not the idea."

Al nods and says "right, right. We'll need to work together. Well, I guess I should gap there. Thanks for the warning."

Mima giggles and replies "hey Ail. Glad to have you back."

Ail smiles and replies "it's good to be back."

Outside Ail's mind, Ail and Budou have finished painting most of the new tiles, when Ail turns to Yuki and Koishi and says "sorry guys, but something important just came up. You'll have to finish on your own."

Koishi smiles and says "it's alright. You go do that, before it becomes a mess."

Ail smiles and bows, then he and Budou fly down, while Yuki stares with contempt and says "great, more work for us."

Koishi turns around with a smile, then says "at least our punishment was a lot less harsh that we thought."

Yuki shivers, then says "uu~ that pink dress was just disgusting."

On the courtyard, Budou calls "mama Sanny! Papa and I have to go to the Hakurei Shrine now."

Sanae turns around with a casual look and an ominous aura around her, then asks "oh, and why is this?"

Ail sighs, but Budou answers "papa's gotta show that girl... that."

Sanae blushes and shouts "you pervert!", and smacks Ail on the head with her broom.

Ail angrily, but gently, pushes the broom away and angrily says "Sanae, remember what we talked about."

Sanae covers her mouth and says "whoops. Sorry. I forgot."

Ail opens a gap to the Hakurei Shrine, then says "well, want to come with us?"

Sanae drops her broom, smiles and says "sure thing", then shouts "lady Moriya, lady Yasaka, I'm going with Ail and Budou to the Hakurei Shrine. Make sure those two finish the repairs. See you later~!"

After saying all that, she, Ail and Budou jump into the gap and immediately, it closes up.

Suwako walks out of the shrine and sits on the porch, holding on to a plate with unrecognizable burned food, then says "auu! She left already."

Kanako walks out of the shrine and stands next to Suwako, then says "yeah, she did. Just eat your food already."

Suwako stares with grimace at her plate and says "but I don't want to die yet."

Kanako punches down hard on Suwako's head, a vein pulsating on her fist.

Ail, Budou and Sanae arrive at the front of the Hakurei Shrine, and immediately they are greeted from behind by Yukari, who says "well, well, if it isn't mister Ail and company. I was wondering when, exactly, were you planning on visiting me?"

Ail turns around with a wicked smile and says "and I was wondering what happened to my old bed?"

Yukari opens her fan to cover half of her face and replies "it's quite comfortable. I'm not giving it back without a fight."

Ail sighs and slumps, then recovers and smiles as he says "it's alright. I made another, so it's ok."

Yukari suddenly walks past Ail and his friends, extending her arms with a smile and saying "Reimu~! There you are!"

Ail, Sanae and Budou turn around and find Reimu behind them, being force-hugged by Yukari, screaming "get off me! You're creeping me out!"

Budou exclaims "wait, lady gramma! Let her go, or she's going..."

There is a loud blast, and Yukari's body flies past Ail, Sanae and Budou, then lands and slides on the ground until she finally stops, groaning and saying "so violent."

Reimu looks at Ail and calmly asks "and why are you guys here?"

Ail quickly replies "Mima says Rika's about to wake up and thought is a great moment to show her."

Reimu nods, then says "ah, that's right. Avoid unnecessary misunderstandings later."

From the sky, Hatate loudly asks "is she awake yet!"

Reimu replies "still moaning."

Eirin and Reisen fly behind Hatate, and as soon as they land, Eirin says "what are you doing, leaving my patient unattended like that! Come on, let's go!"

Before Reimu can complain, Eirin pulls on her right ear and drags her back into the shrine.

While Ail and Sanae stay outside the shrine, kneeling as close as they can to each other, Yukari, Budou, Reisen and Aya stand by behind Reimu, Eirin and Hatate, as if waiting for an order.

Eirin opens her medicine bag and pulls out a syringe, then injects Rika's right arm, making Rika clench her eyes for a moment and softly moan.

Reimu concernedly asks "what was that for?"

Eirin pulls the needle out and says "a boost of nutrients. She's going to need them."

Finally, after turning her head to Reimu, yet still not opening her eyes, Rika softly asks "mi-miss Reimu? Is that you? Where are we?"

Reimu replies "we're home, at the shrine. We're waiting for you to wake up."

Rika slowly opens her eyes and asks "wake up? I'm... asleep?"

For a moment, it seems as though Rika will close her eyes once more, but she suddenly opens them up and exclaims "wah~! The goddesses! Miss Reimu, those goddesses from... from..."

Reimu can't stop smiling at Rika, and when the maid looks around, she sees Eirin and Hatate smiling back as well.

She asks "i-is something wrong?"

Reimu jumps at Rika and hugs her neck, exclaiming "you're alright, you mischievous little maid!"

Rika flaps her wings while staring back at Reimu with confusion, then asks "miss Reimu, what's going on?"

Hatate, Reisen, and Eirin join in on the hug, making Rika smile with confusion in her eyes and comment "my, what happened?"

Reimu's happy face changes to an angry scowl as she stares back at Yukari, who forcefully joins the group hug through a gap, saying "aww, isn't this a lovely, touching moment."

Reimu angrily asks "what the hell are you doing, Yakumo?"

Yukari's cheeks turn blue, she slowly lets go, then slowly goes back inside her gap, immediately finding out that Aya and Budou bet on how long she would stay there.

Budou extends her hand and says "pay up, miss tengu."

Aya grumbles and says "that's the last time I bet against you", then hands Budou three 1000 yen notes.

Later, at Eintei's Clinic, Marisa jumps off the bed and readies herself to leave.

Wriggle watches her for a moment and notices she's still wobbling a bit, then asks "are you sure it's a good idea? She said she'd come back soon."

Marisa places her hat on her head, looks at Wriggle, then says "thanks for everything, Wriggle. I really mean it."

Wriggle blushes a bit, then asks "so what exactly are you going to do now?"

Marisa smiles and says "now that I got my magic back, I can finish what I meant to do the moment I stepped outside from home."

Mima phases through the door and asks "and what's that?"

Marisa stops everything and looks at the floor right under Mima, then says "it's time I fixed this mistake of mine."

Mima looks seriously at Marisa, then says "you need to rest first! You still aren't at full power!"

Marisa nods and with a confident smile on her face, she says "I know. But I don't think I'll need my full power for this, ze."

Marisa, Mima and Wriggle walk out of the clinic, then Mima asks "you... aren't waiting for Reimu to come?"

Marisa hides her face by looking toward the sky and says "when I see Reimu, I want to tell her the gate is closed, and that everything is ok. Maybe then she'll forgive me."

Mima softly asks "what if she's already forgiven you?"

Marisa stays quiet for a while, then summons her broom to her hand and mounts it.

She turns her smiling face to Mima and Wriggle, then says "thanks for everything. Once all this is over, sake's on me. See you later."

Marisa flies away back home, eager to seal the gate she so carelessly opened, while Mima floats next to Wriggle with a worried face.

Wriggle looks at Mima and asks "aren't you going with her?"

Mima sighs, then says "there's nothing I can do for her. But I think Reimu and Ail will want to know about this."

Wriggle continues to look at Mima, then says "then you better run, miss spirit. I don't think I'd want to see miss Marisa get hurt now, after all this."

Mima nods and says "you're right. I better run home now. See you later, little bug."

Wriggle waves at Mima as she flies away to the Hakurei Shrine, and after Mima's out of sight, she turns to face the bamboo forest and says to herself "time to head back home now. Hope I'll find some honey."

Meanwhile, Marisa reaches the edge of the forest and thinks "now all I have to do is get Ail the heck out of there, then seal that gate. If Yuka was right, I should have enough power already."

By now, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai fly right beside Marisa, then Alice makes Marisa jump with a yelp as she says "sorry, miss black and white. You are now under our surveillance."

Marisa looks back at Alice with surprise and exclaims "Alice! Wh-what are you up to?"

Hourai giggles and says "mama's going to help out."

Shanghai adds "so you better be very grateful to her."

Alice smiles and says "now, now. We can rub it in her face AFTER we're done helping."

Marisa smiles back at Alice, yet she replies with an annoyed voice "gee, thanks you guys."

Back at the Hakurei Shrine, Hatate kneels next the Rika, who kneels while looking down to the floor between her knees, as Reimu scolds her.

Reimu paces left and right, raisin her voice while saying "and not only was that spell dangerous for your opponents, it was dangerous to the entire area, and worst of all, it was dangerous for yourself! What were you thinking, Rika! Oh, and then, not ONLY did you put your life in danger with this spell, but you just HAD to risk more and overexert yourself further! Do you know how worried I was? And what about all your friends!"

Rika bows down, her forehead touching the ground as she says "I'm so sorry, miss Reimu! I was just so angry. Those goddesses needed to see their mistake and I... My lady, I'm so sorry."

Rika gasps when Reimu grabs her and pulls her upright, then gives her a tight hug and says "you idiot! Next time, think a little more! You could have run away!"

Hatate interrupts, saying "er, no we couldn't."

Reimu sighs and says "look, I know you wouldn't use something as dangerous as that for no reason, but you still kept that spell hidden from me. I can't forgive that."

From the table, Ail says "aww, don't be so harsh."

Reimu smiles at Ail and says "maybe I should punish you as well?"

Ail raises his hands in the air and says "I'm completely unarmed."

Sanae and Budou both stare at him with disappointed eyes, both shaking their heads lightly and face palming.

Reimu turns her attention to Rika again, then says "as for your punishment, for keeping that spell hidden from me in the first place, you are NOT to have any peach pies for a month! Did I make myself clear?"

Rika gasps and cups her hands together, then she keeps her head straight and looks up to Reimu with her eyes, making a sad-puppy face, her eyes turning glassy and wide, her lips trembling, then she blows a puff of air and says "ok, my lady. I'm sorry *gulp*. I-I'll accept this punishment *sniffle*, and from now on, n-no more keeping secrets to my lady *sob*"

Reimu turns around and places her hand over her mouth and nose, covering the blood trailing from her nose.

Ail asks "hey, Reimu, are you alright?"

Reimu nods, then says "just show Rika already. I'm done anyway."

Outside the shrine, hiding behind the donation box while listening to everything, Shinki holds her mouth and thinks "that Reimu! She can be so mean. Poor Rika!"

Back inside, Rika looks at Ail with curiosity and asks "sh-show me what?"

From behind Rika, inside one of her gaps, Yukari says with glee "ooh, this is going to get interesting."

Ail stands up and says "let's go out back. I need to show you something. Though, when I do, please understand I am under control, so no attacking, alright?"

Rika stares at Ail, then blinks and says "um, sure. But why would I..?"

Outside, at the back of the shrine, Ail stands a few feet in front of Rika, while Reimu, Sanae, Budou, Hatate, Yukari and Aya watch from the shrine's porch.

Ail stares at Rika with a serious expression and says "well... here goes."

Rika feels nervous, thinking Ail might do something frightfully dangerous, however she stands her ground and nods, then says "g-go ahead."

Ail closes his eyes and concentrates, and his energy starts swirling around himself, turning light-red for a moment as it generates a powerful gust of wind, then everything stops.

A pair of magical demonic wings the same size as Ail's own body appear floating just inches away from Ail's back, and when he opens his eyes, they looks like a star-filled night sky.

Rika stares back with shock for a moment and is about to comment something, however she suddenly unleashes a light-blue energy that, like Ail's, generates powerful winds as it swirls around her, then she's suddenly in her Soraogan mode.

Her eyes look like the day sky with hints of clouds flying around them, and her wings grow to match her own size, as well as her sword changes with her to a very colorful state.

Ail gasps and takes one step back, but Rika doesn't attack and just stares at herself with curiosity, then asks "what just happened here? Mister Ail, what happened to you? Miss Reimu, is this some kind of joke, or punishment? If so, I'm sorry!"

Reimu stares at them both, while Ail asks Rika "so... you don't want to attack me or anything?"

Rika looks back with confusion and asks "why would I want to do that! You are a friend."

Ail sighs with relief, swiping the sweat off his forehead, saying "phew, that's a relief! Mima and Sanae thought you'd attack me since you're like an angel, and well... me..."

Rika smiles, giggles, then says "just like miss Koakuma. Just because I look like this doesn't mean a thing. Besides, all life is precious, mister Ail."

Ail smiles back at Rika, then says "I totally agree, miss Rika."

Reimu stands up and approaches the two of them, then holds her chin while staring at both from head to toes.

Rika asks "my lady, is something wrong?"

Reimu continues to stare at them and thinks "they are both the same, yet they are different. Yin and Yang. I see, so that's why."

Reimu suddenly pulls out, and opens a white fan with a red dot in the middle and says "you two should get married!"

Rika and Ail stare are Reimu with surprise and confusion, letting out a simultaneous "huh!", while on the porch, Budou, Aya and Hatate stare with surprised faces, their eyes turning white and round, while Yukari covers her face with her fan and giggles, and Sanae stares in shock.

Reimu is about to explain herself, but notices Sanae's reaction and covers her wicked smile with the fan, then says "yup. You two are made for each other!"

Rika complains "but miss Reimu, I don't think that's prudent."

Ail adds "yeah. I mean, what are you saying there all of a sudden?"

Sanae stands up, her face twisting with anger, and Reimu, after noticing this, smiles wider and walks to Sanae and says "oh, but don't you know that opposites attract! It's just inevitable!"

Fire rises from under Sanae's feet, and Ail notices this and says "Re-Reimu, you should stop that, really. The joke's over."

Rika looks a little desperate as she says "miss Reimu, please! Enough of that already!"

Reimu now dances around Sanae, saying "and then they'll have children, and they'll buy a big house and grow old together."

Sanae screams, then starts firing pentagrams all over the place, even forcing Budou to duck and cover.

Reimu laughs and laughs, then shouts "Spirit Sign, Fantasy Orb!", striking Sanae hard with five orbs and halting her attack.

After Sanae falls on the ground and calms down, Reimu giggles and says "calm down already, I was just teasing. It's just that those two are like yin and yang, don't you agree?"

Sanae moans and nods with spinning eyes, while Ail and Rika look at each other with confusion, yet understanding what Reimu means.

Hatate, Budou and Aya slowly get back up from the ground, and immediately find Yukari on the floor, blasted by various of Sanae's pentagrams.

From the side of the shrine, Mima walks to the back and says "Reimu, Ail, I think we may have a problem."

Reimu and Ail look at each other, then back at Mima with worried faces.

At Marisa's house, Marisa and Alice head straight to the basement as soon as they arrive.

When Alice looks at the hard work Marisa went through, she says "whoa. You went all out with this, didn't you?"

Marisa hides her face under her hat while inspecting the gate, feeling anxiety and aggravation swelling up inside her as she looks at the vortex, then Alice asks "what I don't understand is, why did you do all of this, Marisa?"

Marisa wants to shout back, tell her to shut up, but she calms down and says "I wanted to take Reimu away from here. She's been through so much, and I wanted her to take a break, relax, kick back... but instead, I messed up."

Alice lowers her head, the two little girls noticing her sad face, then Hourai says "it's no mama's fault. That crazy ghost lady had you busy!"

Shanghai adds "yes, that's right. So don't feel bad now."

Marisa notices the amulet Reimu placed on the top stone is burning up, and knows it's just a matter of time before it breaks away.

After inspecting the gate, she turns to Alice and says "don't feel bad. Maybe, if you had come when I asked for your help, you would have noticed what I was doing was wrong. But even if you had warned me about it, I would have probably just chased you away."

Alice raises her head with a light smile, then says "well, it seems you have grown a bit."

Marisa tips her hat and says "experience, ze."

Marisa walks to Alice, her expression changing to that of great urgency, then says "I am going in there to get Ail back, but I don't know if I can return as easily. Alice, I want you to wait for 1 hour, and if I am not out of there by then, call for help."

Alice nods along with the tiny girls, then Marisa turns around to walk into the vortex.

From inside the gate, a giant scythe enters the room, and in a quick sweep, Marisa, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai are all forcefully pulled inside the vortex, and the moment they enter, a giant black and red dragon tries to go through the gate, but it gets stuck.

She blows out a bit of fire and says "shit. Gonna have to turn into a disgusting human after all."

She glows brightly and shrinks enough to enter through, and when the glowing stops, she reveals herself as a long, red haired woman with a black stripe on the center of her head, light-blue skin and red eyes, wearing a black body suit with a long-tailed coat, and a pair of knee-high boots.

She snickers and says "and now, let's see what this pathetic world has to offer."

Inside the dark void, Marisa and Alice kneel on the dark ground, moaning as they get up.

Marisa asks "you guys alright?"

Shanghai and Hourai nod, and Alice asks "I'm fine, how about you?"

Marisa stands up and helps Alice up, asking "I'm as good as ever. What the heck was that, though?"

A tall, hooded woman, raising a large scythe above her head, laughs and says "you got off WAY too easy, little witch. My master and I are going to make sure you REALLY pay now! Nobody threatens our world and gets away with just a bad memory!"

She swings her scythe, but misses, thanks to Shanghai's magical flash, blinding the hooded woman.

Marisa grabs Alice's arm and shouts "RUN!", and she, Alice, and the two tiny girls rush as fast as they can to the bright gate, but the hooded woman quickly catches up and jumps ahead of them, saying "I'm not gonna fail my lord again!"

She swings her scythe, aiming at the girls' necks, then there's a loud sound of a blade brushing against another blade.

Komachi stands between the hooded woman and the girls, turns a smiling face to them, then says "geez, one thing after another."

The hooded woman lifts her hood off, revealing herself to Komachi, who says "dragon shinigami, long time no see. Did you miss me?"

The dragon shinigami, who is still in her human form, with her long purple hair and pointy ears, glares at Komachi, growls, then says "I won't underestimate you again!"

She raises her scythe and swings it with great speed, but Komachi easily blocks the attack and shouts "you 4, run like hell! Wait for help!"

Alice is about to complain, but Marisa tips her hat and says "got it!", then grabs Alice's hand and pulls her out to the dragon's paradise.

Outside the gate, the guardian dragon stands tall, and with admiration, he says "well, a brave little human with her youkai friend. Welcome. Say, what are you doing here?"

Marisa panics at first, while Alice and the tiny girls stand in shock, readying themselves for anything that might happen, but then Marisa calms down and says "I-I'm looking for a friend."

The guardian dragon smiles and says "oh, you mean Ail. Well, he's already back home, miss Marisa."

Marisa opens her eyes in shock, so the dragon signals her to calm down with his hands, but before he can say anything, a powerful blast hits the back of his head, knocking him unconscious on the ground.

Alice shouts "wh-what the heck!"

Marisa looks to her left at the gigantic, frightening figure of the dragon yama, then says "i-it... But... but?"

The dragon yama roars with rage and says "you humans from Gensokyo think you can do whatever you want! Well not on my watch!"

He raises his hands and summons a golden sword just like Shikieiki's, only dragon sized, then lifts it in the air and swings it hard to the ground.

Before his strike falls, Shikieiki, Spee and Girlie appear in front of Marisa, Alice and the tiny girls, using a powerful spell to block the attack, all staring bravely at the dragon yama, while Marisa, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai stare at them with terror in their surprised faces.

At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu stares angrily toward Mima, shouting "you idiot! Why didn't you stop her!"

Mima stares back with a serious face and says "Reimu, she wants to close that gate and get it over with. All for you!"

Reimu angrily replies "that's exactly what got her into this mess! Doesn't she ever learn!"

Rika stands in the kitchen, preparing tea and snacks for everyone, when her sword suddenly roars.

Only Ail, Reimu and Rika herself hear the roar, then Ail stands up and says "that's a great idea!"

Reimu asks "what's a great idea?"

Rika asks "you heard that!"

Ail replies "no time to explain. Reimu, something's here, I'm sure you felt it too."

Reimu nods, then asks "what idea are you talking about?"

Rika says "we should split up. We need to gather all of those that have been involved in this incident in any way."

Ail continues "so we'll need to split up, search for them, then take them to Marisa's house."

Rika continues "after that, closing that gate should be a breeze."

Mima, Hatate, Aya, and Sanae stare at Ail and Rika with surprise, then Ail says "we need to find Yuka, Flandre, Nitori, Kimi, Alice..."

Rika continues "miss Eirin, Suwako, Kanako, Wriggle, and... there's someone else, but..."

Ail points at Rika's sword and says "he says she'll come by on her own. Oh, and it seems Alice is already with Marisa."

Rika nods, then asks "and how is it you can hear AND understand that?"

Sanae angrily says "yes, mister. I would also like to know how."

Ail is about to calmly explain himself, but Reimu has other plans, and with a wicked smirk she says "ah, they already make the perfect couple."

Sanae, Rika and Ail exclaim at the same time "CUT IT OUT!", then Ail says "and the reason I can understand it is because I was surrounded by dragons for a while! As to how I can hear that, I don't know."

Reimu lightly face palms and sighs, then says "alright, here's what we're going to do. Ail, you, Sanae and Budou go get Yuka, Eirin and Wriggle. Rika, Aya, Hatate, you three go get Flandre, Nitori, and those goddesses. Mima, Yukari, you two are coming with me to go get Kimi."

Everyone nods, then Yukari asks "shouldn't we worry about this mystery person?"

Reimu lightly shakes her head and says "let's move already. I'm getting a very bad feeling."

Ail and Rika nod, then Yukari opens a gap to the Misty Lake and the Youkai Forest, while Ail opens one directly to the Garden of the Sun.

Aya and Hatate immediately enter the gap to the forest, while Ail, Budou and Sanae enter the garden's.

Mima enters the gap to the lake, and before Rika follows, Reimu grabs her arm and says "whatever happens, you continue on your way! You understand what I'm saying?"

Rika stares into Reimu's eyes, then Reimu raises her voice, saying "you get Flandre and go STRAIGHT to the Moriya Shrine! Let us handle Kimi!"

Rika sighs and nods, closing her eyes, then she and Reimu enter the gap, promptly followed by a chuckling Yukari.

Meanwhile, from the lake behind the shrine, Parsee reveals herself, looking annoyed and tired, saying to herself "stupid Makai. So jealous! All I could get was a cookie! I wanted a necklace too."

She gets closer to the shrine and realizes it's empty, then smirks wickedly and says "well, well, it seems the shrine got deserted at last. Serves that lady maiden right."

She walks toward the front of the shrine, snickering while looking around, then bumps to the hooded Shinki, as she runs back to Makai, trying to keep a low profile.

Parsee rubs her head as she gets up from the ground, commenting "what the heck was that? So soft, yet so strong. I'm gonna be so jealous of it!"

When she opens her eyes, she sees Shinki on the ground, her hood down and wincing in pain as she rubs her chest.

When she looks up at Parsee, she gets surprised and smiles nervously, then says "err, hi there. Heh, heh."

Parsee's eyes glow bright green as she stares at Shinki, then angrily says "as expected from a god. A perfect body... Why can't I have a perfect body like that!"

Shinki's face turns beet red as she sits there, listening to Parsee talk about her body.

Budou, Sanae and Ail walk out of Ail's gap, straight to the front Yuka's house at the Garden of the Sun.

Ail looks around and says "we'll check if she's home first, then look around by air if she's not there."

Budou and Sanae nod at the same time, then Phredia flies out of Budou's heart and sits on Budou's head, smiling and tilting her head backward.

Budou stares up at her with curiosity and asks "Phredia, what's wrong?"

Ail answer for her "hey, everyone needs a bit of fresh air sometimes."

Phredia smiles at Ail and flips her thumb up, then Budou shrugs and says "ah well. Let's go get miss Yuka."

Budou and Sanae turn toward the house, but jump in place when they hear Yuka's sweet, yet ominous voice, asking "and what exactly would you need me for?"

When they turn around, she's leaning against Ail's shoulder, placing her smiling face right in front of his own, her eyes sparkling as she stares into his eyes.

Sanae feels as though fire rises from her legs, up to her head, but manages to keep calm, asking "what are you doing to him?"

Ail stares back at Yuka with a neutral expression, then sighs and says "fine. How many?"

Yuka smiles gleefully and says "a whole bed."

Ail nods and says "deal. But after we're done, you're coming with us to Marisa's house."

Sanae is beside herself with anger, while Budou and Phredia stare at her with great curiosity, and when she opens her mouth to speak, from inside the house, a woman shouts "stay away from MY Yukarin, you filthy man!"

From inside the house, Elly rushes straight to Ail and Yukari, then raises her scythe above her head and lunges it straight to his head, but she stops at the very last second when she sees Yuka's murderous angry face, Ail's peaceful, yet frightful eyes, and when she blinks, Sanae is next to Ail's left, holding on to his arm and pulling him away from Yuka, yet staring with brave eyes straight at the youkai.

Elly starts to tremble, her cheeks turns blue, then she lowers her weapon, clears her throat, then says "y-y-you better had l-let go of m-m... my Yuka, or I w-would have had to g-g-get mean."

While this happens, Kurumi walks next to Budou, then both just watch the events unfold.

Kurumi turns her eyes to Budou, then Budou to Kurumi, and after staring at each other for some time, admiring their similarities, Kurumi says "I know I have seen you before somewhere."

Budou smiles and says "well, I have been flying around here often."

Phredia sits on Budou's head and stares at the two girls, then smiles and shrugs.

Moments later, Elly walks closely beside Yuka as she leads everyone to a particular flower bed. Sanae walks beside Ail, holding on to his arm as tightly as she can, while Budou and Kurumi walk beside each other, still staring curiously at one-another.

Yuka stops and happily says "here we are~!"

Ail and Sanae gasp when they see the large white and blue flower, which is twice the size of a human.

Ail stares at it awestruck for a moment, then asks "Yuka, is this that flower I revived for you the first time?"

Yuka gleefully smiles and nods, then Ail looks around and realizes the rest of the flowers around it are either withering, or dead.

He looks at Sanae, then smiles and says "I could use a miracle here."

Sanae giggles and says "well then, you better pray to the gods."

Ail and Sanae walk to the flowerbed, then Ail says "how about I just offer one special god a special treat after this is over."

Sanae's face turns beet red as Ail kneels down and places his hands on the ground.

He says "Sanae, touch my back", and the moment she does, his magical demonic wings spring out, pashing through Sanae's hands, Ail's eyes looking like a starry night sky, and in an instant, the entire flowerbed revives, growing not only sunflowers, but countless flower species, all of different shapes, colors and sizes, all growing for miles away.

Yuka is left completely awestruck, and after Ail stands up and returns to normal, he smiles and asks "so, ready to go?"

Yuka nods with a blank stare, still awestruck at the sight.

At the Misty Lake, Reimu and Yukari fly out of the gap, flying above the lake itself.

They notice Mima and Rika staring toward the Mansion, and before Reimu can ask, she sees Kimi, already in her dragon form, flying above the lake, as if waiting for her.

Reimu flies ahead of Mima and Rika and says "Rika, you go get Flandre and head straight to the Moriya Shrine."

Rika ask "but my lady! What about you?"

Reimu turns around to face Kimi and says "Rika, I gave you an order, now go!"

Rika gasps and stares at Reimu for a moment, then remembers her promise, so without any more hesitation, she flies down to the mansion in search of Flandre.

Yukari and Mima position themselves beside Reimu as she says "Kimi, this really isn't the time."

Kimi softly says "I know you're in a hurry, but I must know. Defeat me in battle and show me. Show me there is a reason I respect you so much."

Yukari and Mima look at Reimu's face, and without asking, they already know she wants them to stand back and watch.

Kimi takes her human form, then says "now we're even."

Reimu asks "how many spell cards?"

Kimi replies "none. We use only our skill. You may use you own charms and needles if you want."

Reimu nods, and right afterward, the battle begins, Reimu disappearing and reappearing right above Kimi trying to land a kick, her foot surrounded by an orange energy, but Kimi steps away just in time and tries to counter with a dive-kick of her own, but Reimu flips right out of the way and manages to land a knee on Kimi's back, falling along with her to the ground below.

Meanwhile, inside the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Rika enters along with Meiling and calls "miss... I mean, Flandre! Flandre, where are you?"

Meiling sighs and says "I'll get miss Sakuya for you while you search her room in the basement."

Rika nods and says "thank you so much, miss Meiling."

Meiling leaves the room, winking and flipping her thumb up at Rika, who looks around the mansion foyer and comments "wow... it looks a lot bigger than before."

Rika looks to the stairs leading down to the basement and says "Rika, focus. You've been sleeping for a while, you inconvenienced miss Reimu with that, so now you must redeem yourself."

She nods with a determined look in her eyes and says "yes, I have to move."

She flaps her little wings, then starts to walk as fast as she can to the basement.

A few minutes later, Rika arrives to Flandre's room and places her hand on the doorknob, but she immediately feels something is wrong, so she steps away from the door, and just like that, Remilia bursts out of the door, screaming as danmaku bullets explode all over her.

From inside, Flandre shouts "one-sama! I'm so sorry! I forgot to hold back!"

Remilia lies on the ground, twitching her legs and left arm, her eyes spinning in place as she replies "urk. It's ok. It, doesn't hurt... Uuu~!"

Rika cautiously peeks through the door and softly asks "miss Flandre, are you there?"

Flandre sits on her bed, smiles at Rika, and gleefully says "Rika~! You're alright! And stop calling me 'miss'! I'm young, unlike my sister!"

Rika enters the room with a nervous smile and says "heh, s-sorry."

Flandre looks into Rika's eyes and asks "hmm, you came here for a reason, didn't you?"

Outside the room, Sakuya and Meiling stare at Remilia, Sakuya poking her and asking "my lady~? Are you alive?"

Inside, Rika says "mi... I mean, Flan, we need your help. Well, Marisa needs your help."

Flandre jumps off her bed and lands right in front of Rika, looking up at the shrine maid and says "no need to say more. Let's roll!"

Before she even realizes it, Rika finds herself on Flandre's red UFO, taking off to the sky at amazing speeds.

When she looks back at the mansion, she sees her master fighting against Kimi with all her might.

She sighs, and noticing this, Flandre asks "want to go back?"

Rika lightly shakes her head and says "no. If we do, miss Reimu will be mad. Let's just go to the Moriya Shrine."

Flandre smiles and says "alright, but you better guide me. I have no clue where it is."

At the Youkai Forest, Aya and Hatate fly out of the gap and head straight to the base of the waterfall, supposedly looking for Nitori.

Aya looks at Hatate and asks "you remember the plan, right?"

Hatate nods, then says "but remember, once this is over, like, you and I are rivals again!"

Aya smiles and says "wouldn't have it any other way. Look, there they are!"

On the base of the waterfall, Momiji and Nitori play a peaceful game of shogi, after a hard day of working on their paper.

Aya and Hatate quickly approach their targets, and before they even have a chance to stop their game, Aya shouts "Illusionary Dominance!", and surrounds herself in red wind energy.

Momiji and Nitori jump away from their game board just as Aya speeds by them, and before they have time to recover, Hatate shouts "Reporting, Hatate Himekaidou's Reporting Training!"

Hatate covers the entire area with dark-purple petal bullets, and takes a picture of Nitori and Momiji kneeling on the floor, overwhelmed by her, and Aya's attacks.

Finally, the two spell cards time out, and Hatate's danmaku slowly disappears, revealing Momiji and Nitori have disappeared.

The two tengu look at each other, gasping as their faces fill with terror.

Aya exclaims "wh-where are they?"

Hatate exclaims "oh no, oh no! Not good! We vaporized them!"

Aya starts to cry as she says "wha... I didn't want this!"

Hatate despairs and shouts "I swear, I didn't hit them that hard!"

Suddenly, the tengu look at each other, then hug in mid air, crying "Momiji~! Nitori~! We're sorry~!"

From higher up, Momiji shouts "even if you are sorry, you still need more punishment!"

Aya and Hatate look to the top of the mountain and see Momiji and Nitori looking down on them.

They feel great relief, a heavy weight lifting from their shoulders at the sight of the two girls alive, then Momiji's words suddenly sink into them, Aya asking "er, what are you talking about?"

Momiji stares down with a bored expression on her face, while Nitori stares at them with a malevolent smile, then Momiji says "like I said... You two need more punishment."

Nitori snickers, then pushes a large blue button on a large remote control.

From underground, making a high mechanical sound, 8 gigantic discs with a yellow center, a black strip around, and an orange border, surround the two crow tengu.

Aya and Hatate stare with great terror, trembling at the sight of the crow scares all around them, then start to scream and try to fly around erratically, trying to escape, bumping on to each other and even crashing against the discs themselves, then finally, Hatate screams "UP!", signaling Aya that above them is clear.

When they are about to free themselves, Momiji flies above them, carrying a large mirror-like disc and reflects it against the sun, making colorful bands appear all over the inside of the disc and reflecting a rainbow-like light toward the crow tengu.

Aya and Hatate seem to freeze in place, and finally foam at the mouth and fall to the ground.

Momiji rescues them from the harsh fall, while Nitori hides the giant discs again, and after a few minutes pass, Momiji asks "so, are you going to stop attacking us."

Almost unable to do so, Aya and Hatate manage to cry a pathetic "yes~"

Inside the void between paradises, Komachi fights fiercely against the dragon shinigami.

She raises her scythe, but has to jump and roll on the ground like a ball to avoid the dragon shinigami's relentless attacks.

She stops on her feet, then summons two spirits and sends them straight to the dragon's face, but she swings her scythe with great force and cuts the two spirits in half.

Komachi gasps and shouts "how could you do that to them!"

The dragon replies "this is a battle, not a game!"

Komachi rushes toward the dragon and raises her scythe above her head, then fakes a swing, making the dragon jump away.

Instead of a full swing, she positions her scythe right behind the dragon, and after she jumps back, Komachi pulls on her scythe and manages to cut the dragon's waist.

She winces and backs away, holding on to her wound, then Komachi smiles confidently and says "look, why don't we stop this already. Let the girl seal this void."

The dragon shinigami glares back at Komachi, then smiles, hiding her wicked eyes from Komachi, then uses her scythe to hold herself up and says "you... you are right. I'm sorry, I was just looking for revenge for the humiliation you brought me."

Komachi lowers her defenses, placing her hands on her waist, along with her scythe, then sighs and says "geez, what foolishness. Come on, we're on the same team here. We could have had a formal competition or something. Just stop messing with the guys over here, alright."

The dragon shinigami lowers her head, exhausted from her battle, then says "I-I'm sorry. You're right."

Komachi extends her hand to the dragon and smiles as she says "great to hear that. Now let's go back outside and tell our bosses to..."

The dragon shinigami grabs Komachi's hand and pulls her closer, making her drop her scythe and lose her balance, then swiftly swings her scythe and stabs Komachi right on her abdomen.

Komachi doesn't understand what just happened, and all she can comprehend at the moment, is the pain coursing through her body.

She looks at the dragon's eyes, notices the hatred in them and realizes what has happened.

The dragon wants to split Komachi in half with one swing, but Komachi catches on in time to hold the blade with her hands, managing to get swung around along with the scythe, but saving herself from being killed, and finally, she slips off the tip of the weapon and falls on the ground, spilling blood on the black floor as she tries to get back up.

The dragon shinigami walks closer and says "you know what's next, right? With these weapons of ours, even we can fall victims to the cold hands of death. Funny, right?"

Komachi holds her abdomen, her hand stained with her own blood, looking around for her own weapon while trying to breathe.

On the Dragon's Paradise, Shikieiki, Spee and Girlie continue to reflect any attack from the dragon yama, until Shikieiki has enough, then sends a powerful shockwave of energy that pushes the dragon back.

She glares at her opponent and says "stand down, yama of the beasts, or face just trial for your actions!"

The dragon yama roars with rage, then points at Marisa, Alice and the two tiny girls, then says "they came BACK to this world, even when I specifically said I'd judge them if they came back in!"

Shikieiki shouts "that was for Ail only, and you had to lift that order, so it's void!"

The dragon yama replies "you have forgotten your place, Yamaxanadu! I had a meeting with the spirits from above! They have agreed that I take your place, so it is YOU who should stand down, or be killed."

Shikieiki scoffs, and just stares back at the dragon yama with defiant eyes.

He stomps on the ground, trying to intimidate Shikieiki and the angels with his gigantic size, but they stand their ground, then Shikieiki says "yama of the beats, it has fallen into MY hands to have to bring just, divine punishment on to you. All your misdeeds punished by my hand! The same hand you tried to take away from me!"

She shows him her fully healed hand, making him stutter and back away from her while staring in shock.

He looks into Shikieiki's eyes and asks "how! How is that possible? Our difference in power is too great, even when I restrained myself!"

Shikieiki smiles and nods, then replies "yes, there IS a difference in our level of power."

The dragon yama breathes fire as his rage increases, then a large yin-yang orb strikes the back of his head, making him grunt and bend down.

Next to Shikieiki, the guardian dragon glares at the dragon yama and shouts "you bastard, that really hurt!"

The dragon yama shouts back "well, sorry you're so weak!"

The dragon guardian replies "remember who kicked your butt last time, yama!"

The yama shouts back "you insolent whelp, I'm gonna..!"

The guardian dragon smirks and says "you know what will happen if you even try that, right. Not only will this world vanish, but my..."

Shikieiki raises her voice and says "don't say anymore. Please, protect your guests while I handle this. Spee, Girlie, let's go!"

Spee and Girly both nod and say "right" at the same time, then follow after Shikieiki as she approaches the dragon yama.

As she walks toward him, she winces and thinks "Komachi, be careful in there."

The dragon guardian approaches Marisa, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai, and before he can reach them, Alice pulls her black grimoire from hiding and shouts "Shanghai, shield!"

Shanghai generates an energy barrier around all of them, while Alice and Marisa prepare themselves for a fight.

The guardian dragon approaches them, then says "relax, I'm not here to harm you. You, the black and white one. You are Marisa, correct?"

Marisa and Alice look at each other, then Marisa looks at the dragon and nods, saying "y-yeah. I'm... Marisa, but... how do you know?"

The dragon laughs and says "Ail kept talking about you for a while. He was really mad at you."

Marisa lowers her head and says "oh. I see."

The dragon laughs again and Alice angrily asks "hey, what's so funny?"

The dragon stops laughing and says "sorry, so sorry! It's just Ail told me about when she captured him and used him to collect some items, only to have her experiment explode."

Marisa opens her eyes wide and blushes, then says "I... don't know what you're talking about!"

The dragon clears his throat and asks "anyway, and more importantly. Why are you here, miss Marisa?"

Marisa immediately replies "I came to pick up Ail's consciousness, so I can take him back home and seal the void."

The dragon rubs his chin and says "ah, I see. Well, you'll be glad to know he's back home and inside his body. Odd that he didn't tell you about that."

Alice, Shanghai and Hourai stare at each other, then back at Marisa's confused face, then Marisa says "I... but I haven't seen him. Are you sure?"

The dragon hums, then says "yes, I am quite sure. He left this place along with a dragon from your world. Kimi Hong."

Marisa stares back at Alice with surprise, then asks "wait, Kimi's a dragon?"

Before the dragon guardian says more, he looks inside the gate to the void, then says "oh no. Someone's dying in there. Miss Marisa, if someone dies inside the void, they become lost forever. Please, go inside and help whoever is in there."

Marisa and Alice stare at each other, then exclaim at the same time "Komachi!"

Meanwhile, at the Misty Lake shores, Reimu and Kimi continue their fight, Reimu bearing a few cuts on her shoulders and her abdomen, while Kimi is full of bruises and about ready to give up.

She clumsily runs to Reimu, raising her fist in the air, and when in range, she swings it straight at her face, but Reimu bends back and uses her hands to lift her legs and kick Kimi under the chin.

That last blow has Kimi walking dizzily, trying to keep her balance, but she falls on the ground. Reimu sighs loudly, saying "geez, what a pain that was!"

From the right, a giant fireball flies straight toward the unconscious Kimi, so Reimu rushes to her and lifts a barrier, protecting Kimi and herself.

Afterward she calls "Mima, Yukari~!"

The two youkai are already in the air, meeting the long, red-haired woman, who is actually the shadow dragon from the dragon's paradise, Mima saying "sorry red, but bad dragons like you are not welcome here."

The woman giggles and in a threatening tone of voice, she says "so, you saw right through this disgusting disguise. Well, I assure you, I am still at my full power, so it would be wise of you two to just run and hide, and let me have my revenge on that whelp."

Yukari smiles, and in a sweetly ominous tone of voice she says "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but..."

She opens her fan to cover her mouth as her eyes glow violet and says "the only thing you'll be doing is going back home with your tail between your legs."

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Kimi, Spee and Girlie were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

May 12 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.


	24. Chapter 24

At the Misty Lake's shore, Reimu and Kimi continue their fierce battle.

Kimi tries to throw a fake punch at Reimu, making her dodge accordingly, only to launch a kick to her back, but Reimu uses the energy from that kick to flip and land back on her feet, then strikes Kimi's stomach, making her grunt and back away while holding on to her abdomen.

Reimu stares at Kimi, then says "Kimi, someone's coming. Let's call it a draw and finish this later."

Kimi recovers from the blow, then replies "no! Let's finish this now!"

Reimu shrugs and says "suit yourself."

Reimu dusts the cut on her shirt, the stances ready for the next attack.

Kimi looks as though she could drop at any second, yet her pride prevents her from quitting.

She tries to run toward Reimu, but just stumbles on her feet, worrying Reimu for a moment, but she pushes herself up again and tries to kick Reimu on the face, but Reimu jumps back and disappears, only to reappear right in front of Kimi, sliding below her feet, surrounding her foot with an orange energy and knocking Kimi back on the ground.

Reimu gets up and sighs, then says "it's over. Save what little strength you have left."

Kimi shouts "NO! Defeat me properly!"

Kimi manages to stand up, though she has trouble keeping her balance.

She glares at Reimu, though her sight keeps turning blurry, then rushes to her, already raising her fist.

Reimu bends backward to avoid the punch, then uses her hands to stand upside-down, and kicks Kimi under her chin.

Kimi feels as though the world around her spins, and even so, she tries to keep her balance.

Finally, her world turns black and she falls to the ground on her face, but before she completely loses her consciousness, she hears Reimu say "geez, what a pain that was."

Before Reimu can approach Kimi, a giant fireball comes from her right and flies straight to Kimi, so she runs to the unconscious dragon youkai and places a barrier, protecting herself and Kimi.

Reimu looks up and sees the red-haired woman, staring to Kimi with hateful eyes, so Reimu grabs Kimi by her shoulder, and while dragging her away she shouts "Mima, Yukari~!"

Yukari and Mima are already facing the woman, so Reimu takes this chance to drag Kimi away, grunting while saying "geez, you need to get on a diet. You weigh a ton!"

After hiding Kimi under some bushes and placing protective charms over the leaves, Reimu flies up to face this new threat, only to find out that Mima and Yukari have everything under control.

Mima shouts "hey, Reimu! She's definitely not from around!"

The woman summons a giant fireball and surrounds it with a shadow, turning it into a black flame, then tosses it at Mima.

Reimu shouts "Mima, behind you!", but Yukari has already opened a gap between Mima and the shadow fireball by the time Mima turns around.

Yukari stares at the woman and says "u, fu, fu~! Well, you are quite powerful, aren't you, miss dragon?"

The woman gasps and asks "hey, how the heck you know?"

Mima approaches the woman and says "come on. We can smell that stench all the way over here."

The woman smiles and says "well, this is excellent. That means I no longer need to keep this disgusting appearance."

She glows brightly for a moment, but nothing happens.

When she realizes this, she screams while she pats her body, asking "what the hell? What's going on!"

Yukari hides her wicked smile with her open fan and says "I forgot to mention, I was playing with your boundaries earlier, so... I'm afraid you won't be able to change into a dragon for some time."

The woman screams to the air with rage and shouts "that's fine then! I can beat you both easily anyway!"

Mima snickers and says "oh, that's what I wanted to hear."

Inside the void between the two paradises, Komachi struggles to stay alive, unable to find her scythe in the darkness, and with a painful wound on her abdomen, all while the dragon shinigami smiles and tries to finish her off.

The dragon swings her scythe at Komachi, forcing her to jump away to her left and fall hard on the ground, where she groans after falling, holding her bloodied stomach.

The dragon shinigami casually walks to Komachi, not even raising her guard, as she smiles and says "you know, death isn't all that bad. I mean, you are suffering so much right now, with that gash, and the fear coursing through you. I mean, really, is living worth all that?"

As she lies face-down on the ground, the pain on Komachi's abdomen races through her entire body, preventing her from moving any farther, and all she can do is listen as the footsteps of the dragon get closer to her.

The dragon continues "really, just be a good girl and hold still for me, alright."

In a desperate move, Komachi grabs hold of the dragon's scythe lower part and doesn't let go.

The dragon shinigami kicks her and shouts "hey, let go of my scythe! Geez, get your own!"

She manages to kick Komachi away, and without waiting for another moment, she raises her scythe.

A large icicle hits her head hard, making her drop her scythe and hold her head, running in circles and cursing out loud, then stops and glares toward the bright gate.

Marisa, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai stare back with brave faces, and Marisa says "shoot and we'll move! Like lightning!"

Alice, Shanghai and Hourai slump while staring angrily at Marisa, then Alice asks "why did you have to say that?"

Marisa smiles and replies "it sounds cool."

Shanghai sighs and says "geez, how annoying."

Hourai starts shooting multi-colored petal bullets toward the dragon shinigami, stopping her from unleashing a fire spell on the girls, then says "mama, Marisa, be more careful!"

Marisa and Alice nod, then Alice says "Shanghai, Hourai, you know what to do. Marisa!"

Marisa nods and says "right behind you."

Alice cups her hand in front of herself and fires a constant red beam that pierces right through the dragon, while Marisa smiles and summons icicle after icicle that crash and shatter on top of the shinigami's head.

Shanghai fires long-range multi-colored petal bullets, while Hourai fires short-ranged multi-colored orbs, overwhelming the dragon with their relentless attacks.

Alice exclaims "we got her!", and Marisa adds "hey, I'm supposed to be the cocky one, remember? Just don't lose focus!"

The dragon suddenly screams and unleashes a powerful shockwave that sends all the girls flying backward and crashing against walls.

She immediately reaches for Shanghai, making her call "MAMA~! HELP ME~!", which makes Alice spring on her feet almost immediately and shout "let her go!"

The shinigami smirks and says "no, I think I'll do this instead!"

She lifts her left hand's finger, and her nail turns to a long, sharp claw and she quickly lunges it straight at her right hand, but her smile quickly turns to a frown and she starts to scream "argh! My hand! Holy crap, it HURTS!"

When Alice and Marisa look up, Hourai has Shanghai by her arms, flying her straight to Alice, who immediately grabs her and give her a hug, saying "oh, I'm so glad you are safe. Thanks, Hourai!"

Before Marisa can warn them, light-purple energy orbs strike them all hard, exploding violently on contact and leaving them all lying on the ground.

The dragon Shinigami holds her scythe on her hands, and with a rage-filled face, she slowly approaches the girls and says "you outsiders are all alike! You think you can come here and do whatever the HELL you want! Well NO MORE! Once I kill you, I'll kill that shinigami, and then I'll go to my boss and finish off that yama as well! After that, you'll ALL have no choice but to respect... URK!"

The dragon stops talking as her eyes expand and her iris and pupils shrink, then coughs and says "sh-shit. I forgot about you..."

She falls down on her face, revealing Komachi standing behind her holding on to her scythe, wincing as she struggles to keep standing, then says "hell will freeze ten times over before I let you touch Eiki-... sama."

Komachi drops on her knees, worrying Marisa and Alice to their feet. Marisa kneels beside Komachi and says "shinigami, stay with me here!"

Komachi smiles and weakly laughs, then says "I... I'm fine. Just need some sun."

Hourai points at the bright gate and exclaims "sun! Out there! There's PLENTY of sun!"

On the Dragon's Paradise, near the bright gate, while the girls handle the dragon shinigami, Spee, Girlie and Shikieiki battle against the enraged dragon yama.

Spee and Girlie fly up to the dragon's face, then fire a white orb at each other, mixing the energies between themselves and creating a giant orb, then each grab the giant or from one side and crash it straight on to the dragon yama's face, making it explode so violently, he gets pushed back.

He rubs his face and shouts "argh! You little monsters!"

After he opens his eyes again, Girlie flies close to his face, pulls down on her eyelid, sticks out her tongue, then playfully says "bad boy got spanked on the face!"

The dragon yama claps his hands, trying to squish Girlie like a bug, and when he opens his hands again he quickly realizes she's not there.

When he looks around, he sees Spee holding Girlie close to her and both glare back at the dragon yama with defiant eyes.

While this happens, Shikieiki raises her golden sword and says "yama of the beasts. Stop this right now, or face the consequences!"

He looks back at Shikieiki and says "I've had more than enough of you! I am going to have your powers stripped from you, and I am going to enjoy judging your existence!"

Various swirling vortexes open up all around the dragon yama, and from inside them, swords of fire fly out and strike him hard, making him wave his arms around, trying to protect himself from the fiery stings of the swords to no avail.

As this happens, Shikieiki slowly flies up to his face, and when he sees her, he tries to grab her, but as soon as his hand is a few inches away, Shikieiki emanates a powerful aura that sends the dragon yama flying backward and sliding on the ground uncontrollably, stopping only after he crashes against various of the gigantic trees, which to him are normal in size.

He lies on his back, dazed and unable to get back up, even when his rage continues to fuel him.

After the world around him stops spinning, he blinks for a second, and there is Shikieiki once more, right next to his face, looking at him with disappointment.

He tries to breathe fire on her face, but she stops him from opening his mouth with a single wave of her hand.

Enraged, he shouts "you are way over the line, and completely out of place! I'm going to-!"

Shikieiki swings her arm in the air again and forces the dragon yama to stay down, then says "you have lied, you have interfered with affairs that don't concern you, you have been going about hurting others out of amusement, and you dare insist I am out of my place."

He tries to speak once more, but Shikieiki's energy prevents him from doing anything.

She continues "you said you had a meeting with the higher spirits, yet they were somehow addressing to me and the other yama just a day ago and never mentioned any of this."

She watches as the dragon yama widens his eyes in surprise, then continues "you claim I have forgotten my place, but it is YOU who's out of place here. Letting hatred rule you, abusing your power, infecting your own shinigami with that hatred and using her like a common slave!"

Shikieiki watches as doubt starts crossing through the dragon's eyes, then asks "you weren't like this before. What happened to you? You were always very cold, but to let hatred take over you?"

The dragon yama hesitates for a while, then suddenly whispers "you would never understand..."

By now, Marisa and Hourai walk out of the gate with Komachi and gently set her down on her knees on the grass, then Alice and Shanghai drag the weakened dragon shinigami by her shoulders, and set her next to Komachi.

Spee and Girlie rush to them, Girlie excitedly saying "she did it, she did it."

Spee approaches Marisa and says "she subdued the dragon. Come have a look."

She looks at Komachi and gasps along with Girlie, who asks "Komachi-chan! Why are you bleeding?"

The dragon guardian approaches the group, shushes them, then says "calm down. She'll be fine after taking in some sun energy. Now keep it down. The yamas are trying to speak."

Further ahead, the dragon yama speaks calmly as he says "I know we yama's aren't supposed to let our emotions run free, but I couldn't help it. There was something about her."

Shikieiki stares into his eyes and whispers "you fool."

The dragon yama raises his voice and says "I had to judge her, send her to hell, then have her reborn again, changed forever, to never be who she was before! An all I could do... was pass judgment."

Shikieiki narrows her eyes, trying to hide the pity she feels for him, then says "it's not easy, is it? To have to do your job, regardless of what you may feel, always judging things to be either black or white. Even if that soul has a list of good deeds, a single bad deed can corrupt it all."

Shikieiki and the dragon yama look into each other's eyes, then Shikieiki says "it is very stressful, but it's our job. Someone has to do it. And if not us, who were made for this sole purpose, then who? It is hard, but I have kept in my place. What about you, yama of the beasts?"

Shikieiki and the dragon yama look at each other without exchanging any more words, while the dragon guardian and the girls, even the dragon shinigami, all stare quietly at them.

Flandre and Rika arrive at the Moriya Shrine and land the UFO right in front of the entrance.

Suwako and Kanako walk out of the shrine to have a look, but before they can even comment, Rika jumps out of the ship, and lands right in front of them, bowing and saying "good afternoon miss Kanako, miss Suwako. I hope you have been behaving."

Ignoring her comment, Kanako smiles and exclaims "Rika, you're awake!"

Suwako smiles and adds "well, well, you seem to have made a full recovery. So, what'cha need?"

Rika inhales, holds her breath, then rapidly says "miss Marisa went to close off the gate prematurely, so we need help from a lot of other people so she can finally close off that gate, however we don't understand why we need so many people, but it's obvious miss Marisa will need help, and with that she can make up with miss Reimu, and make everything go back to normal."

When Rika stops, both goddesses stand in a daze as they absorb the information.

When Rika turns around to address Flandre, she realizes she's arguing with Nitori, so she approaches them in order to assist.

When she gets closer, she hears Flandre saying "no way! You'll just mess it up!"

Nitori replies "come on, let me take it apart! I just need to see what she did to it, so I can add it to my models!"

Rika stares for a moment, then smiles and says "miss Nitori, what a pleasant surprise! We were looking for you."

Nitori turns to Rika and asks "oh? Did you need my help for something?"

Rika smiles angelically and says "yes. Actually, we need help with miss Marisa, and apparently, you are needed there too."

Nitori stares back at Rika, but doesn't reply, so Rika softly claps her hands together, winks, smiles and says "if you come with us, I'll show you what I did to mi... Flandre's UFO, first-hand."

Before Rika realizes it, Nitori is already sitting on the back of the UFO with an eager face, saying "let's get going."

Rika replies "oh, just a moment. Need to get something."

Rika quickly walks to the two confused goddesses, grabs them by the back of their shirts, then drags them back to the ship, and once she fasten their seatbelts, she jumps next to Flandre, fastens her own, then says "now, let's go to Marisa's house!"

Flandre grins wickedly and says "better hang on, wahaha~!"

At first, the ship rises slowly, but once it gains altitude, it speeds away, flying as fast as Aya herself.

While they speed away, Nitori excitedly edges Flandre to go faster, while Suwako begs her to slow down, and Kanako grips the seat as tightly as she can.

While this happens, Rika turns around and casually asks "miss Nitori, didn't miss Hatate and miss Aya tell you anything?"

Nitori rubs her chin and says "umm, well, they fell asleep before they could tell me anything."

Rika opens her eyes with surprise and says "oh. Well, good thing you bumped into us, then."

At the base of the waterfall, Momiji stands next to Aya and Hatate, who are still foaming at the mouth while lying unconscious on the ground, poking each with a stick and asking "hey~ Are you going to wake up now? Hello~? Are you alive?"

At Eintei, a gap opens up in the front yard, and from it come Ail, Sanae, Budou, Phredia and Yuka.

The moment she steps on the ground, Yuka looks around and comments "this needs more flowers", and starts walking around and spreading sunflower seeds from her pockets, making them all grow into child flowers immediately.

Ail smiles, then looks at Sanae and says "I'll go get Eirin, so just give me a..."

Sanae, Phredia and Budou keep staring toward the clinic, seemingly ignoring Ail, but when Ail looks to the clinic too, he notices there is a long, long line of villagers, all moaning and coughing.

Sanae comments "something tells me Eirin won't be able to help."

Ail instinctively opens a gap right inside the clinic, then finds Eirin and Reisen doing their best to take care of each patient as fast as they can.

Eirin dismisses the patient she was just treating, and Reisen hands him a small envelope with the medicine, but before Eirin can call in the next patient, Ail comments "very busy day, I see."

Eirin looks to Ail as though wanting to strangle him, making him raise his hand to his chest, saying "whoa, whoa, sorry. It was just an observation."

Eirin asks "you're here about Marisa, aren't you?"

Ail looks confused to Eirin, then she hands Ail a syringe with an orange substance inside.

She says "that girl left before I could complete her treatment. That supplement should energize that lively girl. Now hurry, she's going to need that if she wants to close off that gate."

Ail stands awestruck and tries to ask, but before he can, Eirin shouts "get out of here already, or receive Udonge's special suppository treatment!"

Ail sweats and gulps as he tries to back away from Reisen, who stares at him in a most wicked way, light shining from below the floor under her feet, making her look more menacing than ever.

Ail nervously smiles and slowly backs away into his gap, saying "er, thank you very much. Um, I'll be going now, so bye."

Ail pops back to Eintei's front yard, which is covered in sunflowers by now, and after Sanae notices his dreadfully nervous face, she asks "she's not helping?"

Ail replies "she already did. Just don't get in her way right now."

Budou sighs, and while she stares at Phredia, she says "well, that only leaves this Wriggle. How do we find him?"

Yuka stands right behind Budou, smiling, yet emanating an ominous aura, and says "oh, don't you worry about HER. We just need the right bait."

Yuka walks up to Ail and forcefully reaches into one of his pockets, even though Ail complains.

She pulls out a small transparent jar with honey inside, twists the cap open, then walks toward a bamboo thicket and breaks the jar against them.

Ail shouts "HEY! I was saving that!"

Yuka turns around with a smile and asks "but we need to find miss Wriggle, right?"

Ail sighs and nods, and when Yuka turns around again, she extends her arm and catches Wriggle just before she can reach the honey, then presents her to Ail and the others and says "and here she is."

Wriggle flings her limbs around furiously and exclaims "hey, what's the big idea? I finally get home just to get lured out and caught?"

Ail approaches Wriggle and says "oy, calm down. Look, we need your help, so you can help Marisa seal that gate thing she opened up."

Wriggle asks "Marisa? But why me?"

Ail scratches the back of his head and says "I'm not sure, but it seems we need you. So will come with us?"

Wriggle nods and says "sure. Just tell that girl to stop staring at me so much. And miss Yuka, you can let go now."

While Ail looks at Budou, Yuka happily says "ho ho~! But if I do, you'll run away."

Wriggle shouts "no I won't!", while Ail approaches Budou and asks "is something wrong?"

Budou continues to stare at Wriggle for a little longer, then snaps her fingers, smiles, then says "she really is a girl!"

Wriggle angrily shouts "of course I'm a girl!"

Back at the Misty Lake, Mima cackles as she unleashes arch, after arch, after arch of small, yet extremely powerful red orbs, occasionally firing a laser or two at the shadow dragon.

Yukari occasionally joins in, firing waves of kunai, just to keep the dragon from attacking.

The shadow dragon youkai is full of burn marks, cuts, blood coursing through her face, and in a rage, she screams to the air, then shouts "I've had enough of this game! Time to die! Wait... what the hell is this?"

When she tries to use a spell, instead of the spell, she gets a spell card right on her face.

Yukari smiles, then says "sorry, but we have rules here, so if you want to play, you better brush up."

The shadow dragon asks "what rules? What are you talking about?"

Mima replies "I'm sorry, but only the maiden in red and white can decide if we can tell you the rules or not."

Yukari adds "but she's busy at the moment, so we'll just have to show you how it's done."

The shadow dragon whispers "I think it's time to run away", but before she can try, Yukari opens up various gaps around her, then shouts "Magic Eye, The Magic Eye of Laplace!"

At first, nothing happens, and the large purple eyes in the gaps simply stare.

Yukari giggles, then asks "I wonder what will happen? Should you move to avoid this spell... or is that what I want you to do?"

The dragon looks at Yukari with rage, unable to decide what to do, but before she can think of anything, Mima shouts "Darkness Sigh, Lights-off Dance!"

6 red laser beams fly from around Mima and reach a certain distance before they change direction and twist between each other, as if dancing, all now headed straight to the dragon.

While the lasers head toward the dragon, Mima fires 4 giant fireballs that after reaching a few feet, they shatter and turn to countless smaller fireballs, all flying unevenly toward the dragon.

Yukari giggle and says "well, it was nice playing with you, but it's time to finish the game."

The dragon tries to fly toward Yukari, but the youkai sage fires a set of blue lasers at her, and the moment they make contact with the dragon, the purple eyes fire a barrage purple bullets, and every single bullet after that makes contact with the dragon at the same time, her scream echoing as a massive explosion rattles the surrounding area.

Before the smoke clears, Yukari spots the shadow dragon falling to the water, but before she falls, Yukari opens a gap and sends her falling beside Reimu and Kimi.

Kimi is covered with bandages all over her arms and her neck, and when she sees the shadow dragon fall next to her and Reimu, she says "oy, that weakling came looking for me."

Reimu asks "you met her already?"

Kimi casually replies "beat her twice in her own world."

After a while, Yukari and Mima regroup with Reimu and Kimi, then Yukari asks "what should we do with her?"

Reimu casually shrugs, then says "let's take her with us and toss her back to her own world."

Kimi scoffs, then says "you know, in the wild, if a dragon as annoying as her keeps bothering you, you get to eat it the next time you beat it."

The girls look at Kimi with surprise and disgust, then Mima says "really, that's pretty barbaric. I hope I get to see that someday."

Reimu sighs with annoyance and says "whatever. Let's just go to Marisa's house already."

Yukari chuckles, and opens up a gap straight to Marisa's house front yard.

At the Dragon's Paradise, the dragon yama has shrunk to human size, and stands beside his shinigami, while Shikieiki speaks to them.

Farther behind, Marisa, Alice, the two little girls and the angels stand beside the guardian dragon, who says "well, once you get back, you have to use all your power to seal that gate. These two worlds weren't meant to be together."

Marisa nods and says "I understand. I won't let you down."

Meanwhile, Shikieiki addresses to the dragon yama and his shinigami, saying "I am glad I didn't have to pass judgment on you. Just keep in mind, you have to work harder to keep those emotions in check."

The dragon yama and his shinigami nod at the same time, then the yama asks "if it's alright with you, can we contact you, should I lose my control again?"

Shikieiki hides her smile with her golden sword, lightly bows, then says "I would be honored to lend you some assistance. I know how hard it is to deal with this. But perhaps, if we help each other out, we can both overcome the stress that comes with this job."

The dragon yama raises his own sword up to his face, covering his light smile, and says "then let us hope our next encounter is a more pleasant one."

Shikieiki nods, then the dragon yama adds "oh, there is one more thing..."

Shikieiki rushes toward the girls and the guardian dragon with an alarmed look and exclaims "he sent the shadow dragon, Kiki, to Gensokyo!"

The guardian dragon exclaims "then what are you doing here looking at each other's faces with awe? Go! She's too dangerous to be left on her own!"

The girls nod, and quickly find themselves running through the dark void, going as fast as they can, back to Gensokyo.

When they reach the room of waving energy, Shikieiki exclaims "hold on to me!", and extends her arms.

In a flash, they all find themselves inside Marisa's basement, and immediately Shikieiki exclaims "go, find that dragon!"

They run up the small stairs, rush through the room up to the door, and when they open it, they stop on their tracks and Spee exclaims "Ail! Reimu! Rika!"

Outside Marisa's house, heading straight to the door, is a large group of friends, and one unconscious red-haired woman.

Marisa points at her and asks "who's that?"

Reimu smiles and says "just an unwelcome guest."

When Marisa and Reimu's eyes meet, they stare at each other for some time, then suddenly hug each other tight.

Marisa closes her eyes and says "I'm sorry, Reimu. I never wanted this to happen."

Reimu calmly replies "I know. It's alright. I'm sorry I snapped like that. I'm sorry for sealing your magic."

Everyone watch as the two friends finally make up, and Ail and Rika, though speaking at the same time, Ail sounds more casual, while Rika sounds more excited as they say "they finally made up!"

Mima and Yukari stare with disgust, and sounding quite disgusted, Mima says "ok, alright, we get it already! Let's get this show on the road!"

At the house's front yard, Shikieiki, Spee and Girly help Komachi keep on her feet, then Shikieiki says "I'm sorry, but this is as far as we can go at the time. Komachi needs some assistance too."

Reimu nods and says "you take care of her", then Marisa adds "and let us know when she's made a full recovery, alright?"

Shikieiki nods, then she, Komachi, Spee and Girlie, gently fly up to the sky.

Down at the basement, Kimi and Mima hold Kiki by her arms and legs, then swing her forward and back and count "one... two... THREE!"

After "three", they swing Kiki hard toward the vortex and send her flying with force inside, then dust their hands, Mima saying "and that's a humane and safe way to take out the garbage!"

Reimu stares seriously at Mima, but ignores her and turns to Ail and Rika and asks "alright, we are all here. What should we do now?"

Rika and Ail look at each other with surprise, then shrug, but Rika's sword starts to growl and Reimu asks "what did it say?"

Rika says "Nitori, you have to build something that will cover the gate's... mouth, and um... allow air to pass though."

Nitori smiles and says "ah, like a grid. I can do that in a second!"

Rika pulls out many tools out of nowhere, her eyes glinting as she says "I'll help you!"

Reimu looks at Ail, while Rika and Nitori walk toward the gate, then Ail says "relax. Yuka, when they are done, you need to stand on the back-left corner and have as many flowers as you can summon to absorb the energy from those white stones. And Flandre, you are to stand on the front right side of the room and when I give you the signal, you need to break one stone at a time."

Flandre giggles, then cheers and says "this will be fun~!"

Ail suddenly remembers something and says "Marisa, you idiot! You left the clinic a little too soon!"

Marisa angrily replies "hey, watch it. Anyway, I did it for a good cause!"

Ail grabs her arm and says "hold still."

He pulls out the syringe Eirin gave him and startles Marisa, who excitedly asks "wa-wa-wa~ What do you think you're doing?"

Ail smiles and says "relax. Eirin sent it. She says you'll feel much better."

He gently sticks the needle in her arm and gently pushes down the little plunger.

After he pulls the needle out, Marisa feels as though her entire body is being charged with pure energy, and excitedly says "whoa~! This is great! I feel just like new!"

Kanako approaches Ail and asks "and what are we to do?"

Ail smiles and says "oh, it's very simple. After Marisa closes off the gate, you two goddesses need to take your blessings back in order to power everything down. And you, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai... You are to stand on the back right corner and..."

Before Ail can finish, Rika and Nitori walk out of the basement, and Rika says "you, miss Hourai, are going to sing with me, while Alice and Shanghai cast a protection over everyone in the room."

Ail immediately says "Kimi, the gate responds positively toward you."

Rika adds "yes. It seems to recognize you as a superior, as well as miss Reimu."

Ail continues "so you two are to stand beside Marisa, while she finishes up."

Kimi and Reimu, who stands a few feet behind Kimi, nod at the same time.

Wriggle approaches Ail and Rika, and asks "and why did you bring me here for?"

Marisa answers for them, saying "I need you to stand close to me, you understand?"

Wriggle looks confused toward Marisa, but she simply nods, then Ail and Rika look at each other, then smile.

Everything is now set. The girls take their places inside the basement, all staring at the gate, which is being covered by a large metallic grid made by Nitori and Rika. Ail stands by the door to the basemen with Kanako and Suwako standing beside him, while Nitori, Sanae, and Budou sit on the couch, waiting for anything.

Phredia flies out of Budou's heart, and flies straight toward the top of the gate.

Budou calls for her, but Ail gently says "it's alright. She knows what she's doing."

Outside the house, Mima and Yukari watch from the windows, then Yukari says "they got this covered. Want to go drink something?"

Mima asks "and miss my apprentice's moment of triumph?"

Yukari says "I got plenty of sake~!"

Mima immediately replies "let's go~!"

Right after the two youkai leave, Parsee pops her head from under some bushes and while looking toward the house with contempt, she asks "what is going on in there? Why is it so busy!"

She looks inside the house through the window, then shivers, bites her bottom lip, then says "they should go to MY house. It's better arranged than THIS!"

Everyone in the basement stare straight into the vortex through Nitori and Rika's grid.

An awkward silence only adds pressure to the already heavy atmosphere.

Phredia places her hand on Reimu's charm, which is almost ready to completely burn out, then Ail nods and shouts "Yuka, being!"

Yuka closes her eyes and summons dark flowers that surround the white stones.

Before the last of the flowers bloom, Phredia pulls the last bit of Reimu's seal away, and the vortex begins to vacuum violently, so Phredia has to fly high while pressing herself against the wall in order to not get sucked in.

Ail shouts "Flandre, any stone you want, just start breaking them!"

Flandre exclaims "HA-HA~! It's just fun to break things, isn't it!"

Rika shouts "contain yourself a little, miss Flandre!"

Flandre replies "it's Flandre! F-L-A-N-D-R-E!"

The little vampire breaks one stone at a time, until the entire arc of stones is shattered.

While all of this happens, Marisa chants in an ancient language, then feels as though her concentration is about to break.

Ail shouts "Hourai, Rika, it's your turn!"

At first, Rika is too nervous, but Hourai manages to fly on her shoulder and helps her relax.

Rika says "listen first, then try to follow."

Hourai nods, and Rika begins her family song.

The essence of faith, struggle, hope, defiance, honor, love and accomplishment reaches Marisa and helps her concentrate.

After a while, Hourai joins in, managing a beautiful chorus along Rika's song, and the magic in her own song causes the vacuum from the vortex to lessen, allowing Phredia to fly back to Budou.

Alice and Shanghai manage to place protective magic around everyone, then Marisa's chanting gets louder and louder, then suddenly, her chant changes, then she pulls out her Hakkero while loudly saying "give me the power to accomplish my goal, with the love I share with all who surround me... Love Sign, Master Spark~!"

Rika's and Hourai's song seem to mute the buzzing sound from Marisa's Master Spark, as it shatters and pulverizes stone after stone.

Everyone else in the room decide to join her and fire their danmaku into the void, helping Marisa destroy the white stones, however, the last stone starts absorbing the blessings of the goddesses into itself, so Ail runs down and adds his lasers, but to no avail.

Ail shouts "keep shooting~!"

Marisa watches as the stone simply absorbs every blow like it was nothing to it, then thinks about her deeds, building the basement, drawing all the symbols, magical circles, runes, setting the stones, opening the gate, and causing a terrible trouble for Reimu.

Guilt creeps over her heart again, but then she looks at Wriggle, who regardless of being so weak, tries her best to help, firing her own danmaku at the vortex.

Marisa remembers her struggles in the cave, her battle against the guilt she felt, then remembers how strong she really is.

Her Master Spark increases in size and brightness, but the stone seems to take consciousness and battles against all efforts, and now, even Nitori's and Rika's grid seems to be breaking apart.

Outside the house, Parsee watches with contempt as everyone, even Sanae and Budou, seem to join in and try to help as they can.

She starts to stare around and thinks "this isn't fair. This isn't fair at all! But wait, Parsee. Now is not the time to be jealous. Maybe you should help too. Besides, what would happen if they fail? If that happens... you'll probably won't have anyone to be properly jealous of."

Parsee gasps and exclaims "that would be TERRIBLE!"

She kicks open the door and tires to enter, but an orb-bullet from Suwako pushes her back and makes her fall on her back.

When she gets back up, she's several feet away from the door, so she kicks the ground beneath her and exclaims "no fair, no fair, no FAIR! Why can't I help too? Bah, TAKE THIS!"

Parsee prepares a concentrated amount of jealousy energy, then stands up and balls it into her left hand, then exclaims "eat THIS frog-girl! AH~HAHAHA!"

She shoots the energy toward the door, and from a tree branch jumps Kogasa, shouting "BOO! BE SCARED OF ME~!"

Parsee shouts "wait! Get out of the way, you idiot!"

Kogasa gets hit by the concentrated amount of jealousy energy, and lands on her seat right next to the open door.

While Parsee angrily stomps on the ground, complaining about Kogasa, the karakasa youkai stands up, holding her umbrella and looking around with contempt.

She turns around and looks inside the house, then says "look at them, Karakasa. All together, being scared of something that is not me! Why is that? That is so unfair!"

She closes her umbrella and stomps on the ground, then shouts "you stupid people in there! I'll make you surprised, even if you don't want to!"

She grabs her umbrella like a javelin and throws it inside, head-first.

It misses Kanako and Suwako by inches, then flies above Ail's, Marisa's and Kimi's heads and goes straight toward the large white stone on top of the vortex, and hits it hard with the narrow tip of the umbrella, allowing Marisa's beam, and everyone else's danmaku to penetrate the stone and destroy it completely.

The entire basement starts to glow white, forcing all to stop shooting, and Rika and Hourai to stop singing, and cover their eyes, then everyone find themselves flying backward out of the house, and on to the front yard.

Marisa is the first to get up from the ground, and watches as all the collected items in her house start flying all over the forest, some falling right in front of her.

She looks up and says "geez, Kourin's going to have fun with this."

After everyone else is up, the house quiets down, and while everyone else stares awkwardly toward the house, Ail shouts "Kanako, Suwako, it's your turn!"

After everything is done, Marisa enters her house again, carrying a few of her items with her, followed by Reimu, who is helping her by carrying some more items on her hands.

Suddenly, Kogasa walks out of the basement, holding her umbrella in her hand, patting it's top, and crying "I'm sorry, Karakasa. I won't do that again, I promise."

Marisa and Reimu stare at Kogasa with surprise, along with Ail, Sanae, Budou, and everyone involved with the closing of the gate, including Kimi and Flandre.

Kogasa stares at everyone with fright in her eyes, and although she feels a surge of energy and wants to jump excitedly, she takes a step backward and asks "wh-what? What's the matter?"

Marisa, Ail, Reimu and Rika rush to Kogasa and give her a hug, then rise her to the air while everyone cheers for her.

Parsee enters the house, looking angry and annoyed and shouts "hey! Hey, wait a minute! I'm the one who shot the jealousy! Cheer for ME! RAH~!"

That night, at the Hakurei Shrine, a great party takes place for all of those involved in closing the gate, but more importantly, for Marisa's and Reimu's reunion.

Of course, many uninvited guests have come along as well, including Hatate, Aya, the entire Scarlet Devil Mansion, and Yuka's lackeys, Elly and Kurumi, amongst other uninvited guests.

Ail and Sanae try to keep to themselves, but the goddesses find them quickly, anywhere they may try to hide, while Kimi tries to stay a little longer, though finds it hard to stay, surrounded by all the youkai in the shrine, so she heads back home to the Misty Lake.

Budou sits on the porch, rubbing her belly and moaning after eating her 5th serving of peach pie, complaining about her belly ache while Phredia pats her head.

Inside the shrine, while the oni and tengu have a drinking contest, Parsee and Kyo lie on the floor next to Yuugi, already drunk and unconscious.

Meanwhile, Rika stares at the last piece of peach pie, sniffling with her sad puppy eyes.

Marisa notices her and turns the Reimu, then says "aww, come on Reimu. Give the kid a break. She learned her lesson, and you did destroy that spell card, right?"

Reimu sighs and flaps her arms against her hips.

She approaches Rika, then places her hand on her back, making the maid stiffen his wings, then asks "so, did you learn your lesson?"

Rika nods, then Reimu asks "no more hiding dangerous spells behind my back?"

Rika nods again, then Reimu smiles and presents Rika with a piece of peach pie on a plate, and says "then enjoy."

Rika flaps her wings happily, while gasping with excitement and staring at Reimu, then asks "really? For me!"

Reimu nods, and Rika gives her a tight hug, making her throw the pie in the air, then catches the pie before it even starts falling, repeats "thank you, thank you, thank you", then munches down on her favorite treat.

A few moments later, after the party starts to die down, Reimu finds Rika, Ail, Sanae, who is holding on to Budou on her lap as she sleeps, and Marisa, all sitting by the shrine stairs and staring up at the starry sky.

Reimu sits between Marisa and Ail, then says "well, things can finally go back to normal. That dangerous gate is sealed, no worlds are going to get sucked into a void..."

Marisa adds "and me and Reimu are buddies again, right?"

Reimu rubs her chin while thinking and saying "hmm, I don't know. You really made a mess of things."

Marisa exclaims "aww, come on."

Reimu giggles and says "but you did manage to close it, so it's alright. Besides, I was angry at you, but... I never stopped thinking of you as a friend."

Marisa gives Reimu a light hug with her right arm and says "aww, you."

Afterward, Marisa looks at Budou as she sleeps on Sanae's lap, then says "that magical shockwave did cause a hell of a lot of trouble."

Ail quickly says "don't worry. With that gate gone, it should take a couple of weeks for everything to return to normal."

Reimu smiles and says "yeah. And those blasted vampires can stop attacking people during the daytime."

Sanae giggles, then says "well, even if they don't we have a strong little vampire hunter that can deal with them."

Ail smiles and adds "and she has quite a lot of friends to back her up, including me and Sanae."

The small group giggles, and stay watching the night sky the rest of the party time.

2 WEEKS LATER

Ail walks out of his house one morning, and finds the forest feeling a little sad.

The green on the tree's leaves and on the bushes seems very dim, some looking very dark.

Ail concernedly walks back inside the house and calls for Budou, yet she doesn't answer.

Anxiety takes over him as he calls over and over, then she suddenly stumbles out of the storage room, yawning and weakly saying "g-good morning papa. What's the matter? *yawn*"

Ail asks "Budou, are you alright?"

Budou slowly closes her eyes after stumbling on to Ail's arms, then weakly says "I'm just *yawn* fine, papa. Just... fine."

After she falls asleep on his arms, Ail gasps, then opens a gap straight to the Hakurei Shrine.

The moment he arrives to the shrine, he finds Reimu and Rika acting a little nervous, then he looks toward the shrine's gate, and notices something odd with the barrier.

It looks as though he can see blurs from the world outside.

Ail whispers "the border is thinning?"

Reimu grabs Budou from Ail's arms and excitedly says "come! Now!"

Inside the shrine, Rika paces about with a nervous look on her face, while Reimu places a charm on Budou's forehead, making her color return to her skin, yet keeping her asleep.

When Ail takes a better look, Rumia, Wriggle, Mystia, Kogasa, and even Nazrin, all lie on the ground inside futons, all with the same charm on their heads.

Ail asks "so... that void ended up harming the border?"

Reimu nervously says "yes. And I don't know what to do! Patchouli, Keine and Alice tried to help, but..."

From the front of the shrine, Marisa calls "oy Reimu~! What's going on?"

Rinnosuke adds "Reimu, what's going on with the barrier?"

Reimu, Rika and Ail rush out of the house, and find Marisa holding Rinnosuke on his feet while walking to the inside of the shrine.

Rika rushes to help Marisa out with Rinnosuke, then from behind, Yukari falls right out of one of her gaps and says "Reimu. That void. It gave the barrier a consciousness, but now that it's gone, it thinks there's no need to keep itself up!"

Reimu exclaims "what? Then what should we do? Yukari, this is your area of expertise!"

Yukari weakly says "there's nothing more I can do. I tried everything, but the barrier insists it doesn't need to stay. It thinks there is no need to keep Gensokyo hidden anymore. Reimu, do something."

With those words, Yukari falls unconscious on the floor, then Ail asks "why? Why is this affecting the youkai so much?"

Reimu sighs and says "I can feel it. The barrier itself is sucking up our magic. But why? Why is it doing this?"

Sanae flies straight on to Ail, and after crashing on him, she cries "Kanako! Suwako! Th-they are *sob* disappearing."

Ail continues to hold on to Sanae, letting her cry on his shoulder, while staring straight on to the barrier on the gate.

In his mind, he pictures countless youkai, dying slowly as Gensokyo's barrier fades away, the humans from outside taking over the beautiful lands and destroying the nature around it in order to build more houses and malls.

Ail pulls Sanae away from himself, confusing her for a moment, then says "Sanae... Reimu... There's something I have to do."

He sits Sanae on the shrine's porch, then he transforms, showing his magical demonic wings, and his eyes looking like the night sky.

He looks to Sanae, then Reimu, then smiles and says "I'll miss you guys."

Reimu grabs his shoulder and angrily says "no way, mister! There is no chance in hell I'm letting you do that!"

Ail replies "it's the only way!"

Reimu shouts "no, there's gotta be another way!"

Ail's energy increases, scaring even Reimu for a moment.

She backs away from him, and with a look of fear and sadness in her eyes, she thinks "that second... that moment, though brief, he showed me how powerful his resolve is, and thus, becoming more powerful than me."

When Reimu snaps out of her thoughts, she sees Ail already standing next to the large red gate.

She, Marisa, Sanae and Rika run to him, shouting "don't do it! You fool, what will you accomplish!"

Rinnosuke thinks "I see what you're up to. Since the barrier is conscious, yet is unable to use that consciousness as it should..."

Ail continues, explaining to the girls his motive "I am going to merge with it, and allow it to use my consciousness for better judgment."

Sanae shouts "but what if that doesn't work? What am I going to tell Budou?"

Rika adds "please, just wait a minute! We can find another way! Come on, just... wait."

Reimu adds "if you do this, there's no turning back! You'll live on for as long as this barrier exists, unable to share your time with your loved ones! Please, think about it!"

Marisa adds "Ail, taking reckless sacrifices is not worth it. Calm down, and let's think this a little more."

Ail exclaims "you think I don't know all that?"

Tears escape Ail as he continues "I don't want to. I REALLY don't want to do this, but there's no other choice here! If I don't do this, the youkai will die along with Gensokyo."

The girls fail to find words to counter Ail's current logic, and all the can do is look away.

Ail slowly approaches the gate, thinking "this is not fair. After all that happened! I can't believe it's going to end this way. Dammit all, Lily, I'm sorry! Budou... I'm so sorry!"

He slowly reaches with his trembling hand, ready to sacrifice his consciousness for the youkai and Gensokyo.

His hand is merely half an inch away from touching the barrier, when a woman suddenly shouts "Frost Sign, Frost Columns!", and a wall of ice shards forms up right between Ail and the barrier, making him step away.

Ail gasps in surprise and asks "Cirno?"

From a swirling grey and white portal, the voice says "now, let's show you how it's truly done!"

Shikieiki walks out of the portal, and immediately behind her, walks out a very familiar woman, to Ail and Sanae.

The woman has long, wavy blue hair, and wears a long blue dress with light blue flower designs, a light blue sash around her waist she also tangles around her arms, and a sash-like belt she ties around her waist.

Ail exclaims "Lady Cirno?"

Sanae adds "but how?"

Lady Cirno raises a spell card and shouts "Restoration, Conscious Living for the Inanimate!"

A soothing lilac beam emanates from Lady Cirno's body, and wraps itself around the shrine's gate.

The beam turns light blue, and it streams up to the sky, merging itself with Gensokyo's current barrier, restoring it to its usual self. The beam continues to work for some time, and in the meantime, Sanae, Ail, Reimu, Marisa and Rika all stare straight at the adult ice fairy and the yama.

After its work is done, the beam returns to its soothing lilac color, then returns to Lady Cirno's hand.

Afterward, she smiles and giggles as she looks to the spectators, then says "my, we came in here just in time, didn't we."

Shikieiki smiles and nods, then says "couldn't agree more."

Shikieiki and Lady Cirno slowly fly toward the awestruck spectators, then Lady Cirno says "don't worry. Nobody else will know what happened."

Reimu stares in complete shock at Cirno, and after sensing her power, she bows down, her head almost touching the ground, then Rika follows Reimu's lead.

Lady Cirno frowns and says "please, don't do that! Friends don't bow to friends!"

Reimu, still awestruck, manages to stand up along with Rika, and says "bu-but... you. So much power. It's amazing."

Lady Cirno winks and says "I told you I was the strongest."

Ail lightly bows along with Sanae, then says "how did you know? Shikieiki, won't you get in trouble for this?"

Shikieiki smiles and says "after all you went through, just to have it all end like that? I spoke to the higher ups, Ail, so don't worry about me. Just worry about yourself, and those you care about now, and do what you can so you can all live together, happily as it should be. That little bat you rescued has already gone through enough, and it was likely she would have followed after you, even if it meant her own destruction."

Ail holds his head, and looking a little sad he says "I... I see."

Lady Cirno says "after all you've done for all of us to save Gensokyo's future, there was no way I was going to let you take this on alone. You, all of you, including yourself, miss Rika, thank you for leading Gensokyo to a bright future."

Reimu, Marisa, Rika, Sanae and Ail stare back at Lady Cirno and Shikieiki, then they all share a quick laugh and big smiles, then from the gate, a woman says "hey, are you done yet? Flandre's playing tag again!"

Lady Cirno gasps and exclaims "HEY~! Keep your voice down!"

From inside the gate, a woman with long teal hair that reaches to her lower back, a pair of violet eyes without pupils, a pair of large bat-like wings, wearing a blue overall dress with a short-sleeved pink shirt, and a large white ribbon on her head, peeks through the gate.

Ail and Sanae focus their eyes to see her better, then Ail asks "Budou...? Is that you?"

Sanae exclaims "that... that is Budou, isn't she?"

From inside the gate, Budou gasps and says "whoops. Err, you didn't see me."

Lady Cirno smiles nervously and tries to block the gate from view with her body, yet failing to do so, then says "err, look at the time. It's time to go! Ail, Rika, Sanae, Reimu, Marisa, you keep doing what's right, alright!"

After that, she rushes to the gate and says "you idiot, you weren't supposed to be seen!"

Budou replies "geez, I'm sorry. I thought you were done!"

Lady Cirno says "be more prudent next time!"

Budou replies "you just want me to smack you again."

After everything settles down, and the youkai inside the shrine start to wake up, Ail approaches Shikieiki around the hot springs and asks "why did you do it? You know all that ascending for me was for this."

Shikieiki smiles, yet hides her smile by looking into the springs, away from Ail, then says "and you had to suffer so much for that. Not just you, but Budou, and your family, and miss Sanae. I just couldn't look away. I had to do something."

Ail smiles and says "I was very scared back there. I didn't want to do it, but I knew I had to, even when I was this scared. Thank you... for all you have done."

Marisa jumps from behind and uses Ail's neck as a support to swing around, then exclaims "yes, to Ail you listen, Shiki-sama, haha!"

Shikieiki turns her smiling face to the two, then Marisa tones down and calmly says "seriously, thank you very much for all you, your shinigami, and those two little angels did. None of us would have gotten far without your help."

Ail and Marisa bow to Shikieiki, and say at the same time "thank you, Shikieiki Yamaxanadu."

Shikieiki continues to smile, then says "if you really want to thank me... then be more prudent. Marisa, you have GOT to stop with those dangerous experiments. And Ail, it is nice to thinks of others in general, but you keep forgetting about yourself and those who love you so much! I mean, really, you two are a real case. Especially you, mister Ail. That poor bat youkai needs you, and I expect you to do your best for her. And you, miss Marisa, better start helping you friend Reimu around here. Maybe donate something, or sweep the ground. You have a broom. You can do it."

While Shikieiki continues with her lecture, Ail whispers to Marisa "we're really getting it now."

Marisa whispers back "just smile and nod. You don't want to make her mad, ze."

Inside the shrine, Reimu and Rika gently remove the charms from the small youkai, allowing them to wake up, Wriggle saying "that was a nice dream."

Sanae sits with Budou on the floor, accompanied by Suwako and Kanako, then looks at Reimu and asks "so, what does this all mean, Reimu?"

Reimu stares back at Sanae with confusion and curiosity, then Sanae asks "about the barrier, having a consciousness? How will this affect things for us?"

Reimu shrugs and casually says "beats me. What's important is that Gensokyo is safe."

From behind her, Yukari opens a gap, startling Reimu and making her yelp in fright as she says "I wouldn't worry about it, sweetie."

Rika asks "and why would you say that?"

From the shrine's porch, Rinnosuke adds "yes, please. Share this knowledge with us."

Yukari smiles angelically, then says "that consciousness was a result of that horrible magical shockwave from Marisa's little gate. When the gate disappeared, the barrier thought it was no longer needed, and the problem was, it was absorbing all magic in order to adapt us all to the world outside."

Reimu stares back at Yukari with a serious expression and says "that doesn't explain why we shouldn't worry, Yukari."

Yukari opens her fan to cover half of her face, then says "if that kid managed to do what he was planning to do, in time, he would have ceased to exist."

Everyone in the room stare back at Yukari with concern, then Yukari says "you see, this consciousness is temporary, and the barrier will return to normal on its own. If Ail had done what he was aiming to do..."

With fright in her voice, Budou says "pap would have disappeared forever!"

Sanae exclaims "bu-but it's alright! He didn't do it! La... I mean, everything wen back to normal thanks to that spell."

Reimu nods, then says "yes, that spell."

She looks out to the sky, then says "I guess Gensokyo has a bright and beautiful future after all. So, miss Budou, never forget these moments and these struggles. Youkai like you really are the future of this land."

Budou looks toward Reimu, then looks to the sky and admires a few passing clouds, then says "o-of course, Hakurei sis. You can count on me."

The End

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Kyo, Spee, Girlie, Kimi and Kiki were created by Willie G.R.

Mima's Darkness Sign, Lights-off Dance and

Lady Cirno's Restoration, Conscious Living for the Inanimate, were created by Willie G.R. (similarities are strictly coincidental)

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

May 14 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

**A/N:**

**And so, it finally ends. Marisa regains Reimu's friendship, Ail gets to keep on living in Gensokyo (being a little more prudent too), and everything returns to what it should be. Honestly, magic is like technology. Mess with either, and it'll backfire hard.**

**Honestly, Shikieiki's lines in this last chapter were REAL hard for me, but I think I did alright. I bet nobody was expecting such endings, right? Did Kogasa surprise you? I hope she did, because if she didn't, that means I owe her a month of meals. Well, it's all for a good cause.**

**Again, thanks for reading Paradise Sukima, and thanks for showing your support. It's greatly appreciated. I mean, really, the comments and reviews gave me the edge I needed to go on. Ah well, thanks again for reading, take care, and see you next time, if the spirits will allow it.**


	25. EXTRA

It's a bright and beautiful summer morning, and the Misty Lake is more peaceful than usual.

Most of the fairies around the area are either sleeping, or hiding from the hot sun rays, and that includes two well known little ice fairies.

On the eastern shores of the lake, Kimi has Kali tied up to a rope, hanging upside-down from a branch and using her as a punching bag, saying "so, you wanna try that again? Well, do ya?"

Kali cries "I give, I GIVE! Just let me go already!"

Kimi smirks and cracks her knuckles, then says "nope. I don't really believe you learned your lesson."

Kimi winds up a punch, pouring as much energy as she can into it, then an explosion from the SDM rattles the whole island, causing waves to unsettle the peaceful lake.

Kimi looks up, wondering what is all the racket, then a beam of light flies at great speeds from the mansion, followed promptly by another beam of light.

In the air, Ail flies as fast as his body can take, screaming "I already told you! No way I'm letting you. You'll turn me into a vampire!"

Right behind him is Remilia, flying as fast as Ail and trying to reach for him, regardless of their distance, drooling and shouting "it's ok, it's ok! I can't turn you into a vampire, just PLEASE, I need your blood. So rich, so tasty, so REVITALIZING!"

Ail scowls and shouts back "look, I gave you the invitation to the shrine's party, isn't that enough?"

Remilia shouts back "come on~ Just a slurp! I promise it won't hurt!"

Ail shouts back "hey, what the HELL are you doing out in the sun? Aren't you supposed to be getting fired by now!"

Remilia sayss "I thought we vampires became immune to the sun."

Ail shouts "no! I told you, we solved that incident."

Remilia smiles contently, her cheeks turning light pink, then she says "ah, then I must thank Rika when I see her."

Ail's eyes expand as he forces a very nervous smile and asks "what do you mean?"

Remilia happily replies "she made my clothes sun-proof, so I can chase you wherever you go now."

Tears hang from both Ail's eyes as he screams "DAMMIT RIKA! That is so unfair!"

The beams that are Ail and Remilia continue their way through the sky, until a gap opens up, then both disappear inside of it.

From below, Kimi face palms, then says "so loud, so early."

She turns around to face Kali, then asks "and where were we?"

Kali tries to save herself from further punishment and says "erm, I learned my lesson, so you wanted to untie me. Yeah."

Kimi smirks, bearing a set of jagged teeth for Kali to see, as an ominous shadow casts itself over Kimi, who says "no, I believe we were right... HERE!"

Kimi winds up her punch again, and the impact from the punch can be heard all the way to the other side of the shore, where Cirno asks "what was that? Did a tree just fall?"

Daiyousei sighs, then says "let's not think too much into it."

Cirno rubs her chin while she thinks, then says "never mind that! I just thought of the perfect plan! Those red and white and black and white will fall today, and bow to my genius!"

Daiyousei sighs and thinks "I don't think it'll work today either," but smiles and says "that's great, Cirno-chan. You show 'em."

At the Hakurei Shrine, for once, it is a very peaceful morning, even with Aya, Mima and Suika drinking sake on the roof.

On the porch, Marisa, Reimu and Rika enjoy the peaceful morning with tea and snacks.

Reimu takes a sip from her tea, then comments "it's unusually peaceful, isn't it?"

Rika and Marisa nod, then Marisa takes a sip of her tea.

After gulping, she smiles and says "I really missed this. Sponging tea off Reimu, having a quiet drink with my friends in the peace of this empty shrine."

A vein pulsates on Reimu's head as she calmly says "keep it down, or I'll kick you out of here."

Marisa smiles and says "I missed the threats too, ze."

Reimu ignores Marisa and is about to take another sip of tea, but stops and looks at Marisa for a while.

Feeling uncomfortable, Marisa asks "what? What is it? Is there something on my face?"

Reimu asks "Marisa, I want to know something. I read your books, Patchouli's books, I had Patchouli's help, I even went through old shrine records, and still, I never found a safe way to close that gate. Tell me, how did you know how to close that thing?"

Marisa takes another sip or tea, smiles, then looks to the sky and says "I didn't. Not at first, at least."

Reimu and Rika stare back at Marisa with confused, curious eyes, so Marisa turns her face to them, then smiles again and says "when I left my house, I didn't really have a clue how to safely close that gate. Just a hypothesis. But in the end, after I visited that cave, it became clear to me. What's odd, though, is how you, Rika, and Ail, knew exactly what to do without me having to tell you anything. What's up with that?"

Rika chokes on her tea, and after recovering, she stares at Marisa and unsheathes her family sword.

She presents the sword to Marisa, and speaks softly, almost whispering, saying "the spirit within my sword spoke to us. It told us of your plan beforehand, that's how we knew. It also told us to bring friends over to help you."

Marisa's eyes glint as she stares at Rika's sword, so Rika pulls it away and says "no way, miss Marisa. I won't let you have it. Besides, only miss Reimu, Ail and I can hear it."

Rika sheathes her sword again, then looks at the sky with confused eyes, then says "come to think of it, I still wonder how is he able to hear it? I mean... I understand how being amongst dragons helped him learn their language, but..."

Reimu takes a sip of her tea and says "don't think about it too much. Remember, you are yin, and he is yang. It's only natural for you two to share some similarities."

Rika looks down to the ground and says "I guess you're right."

Reimu suddenly remembers something, then asks "hey, why did your sword wanted Nitori to build that grid thing? It was rather useless."

Rika smiles and says "well, it was a precaution. You see, it was your charm that was keeping the vacuum of the vortex in check, and with you and miss Kimi there, the vortex should have diminished in power as well, but there was still a possibility that someone, or something could have easily ended up inside that void before we closed it."

Reimu closes her eyes as she takes another sip of tea, then nods in acknowledgment, then asks "speaking of Nitori, where did she go? After you two were done, she sort of vanished."

Rika sweats and smiles nervously, while Marisa laughs mischievously.

Rika looks at Reimu, then says "well, you see... After everything settled down, I found miss Nitori messing with Flandre's aircraft. She was so nervous, because after she completely dismantled it to look at what I had done to it, she couldn't reassemble it again."

Marisa smiles and says "man, if Flandre ever saw that, Nitori would have ceased to exist."

Rika says "hey, that's not funny. Anyway, I helped her reassemble the aircraft before Flandre got there, so it's alright."

Reimu giggles, then says "that little kappa can be a real menace."

Marisa laughs and says "you got that right."

The three girls continue to enjoy their tea on that morning, while Aya and Suika ignore the fact that they are slowly getting sunburned.

At the Myouren Temple, Byakuren, Shou and Ichirin enjoy a quiet after-breakfast tea-time on a small table set in the front yard.

Minamitsu joins in, bringing an extra tray of cookies, and just after she sits, a gap opens up behind them, then Ail and Remilia zip form inside, flying low to the ground around the girls, looking like beams of light.

As they fly around, almost causing a small tornado, Ail manage to shout "you are all... invited to... attend to... a small party... at the Hakurei Shrine!"

Shou is on high alert, readying herself for a possible attack, while Ichirin struggles against the draft caused by Ail and Remilia, trying her best to keep her skirt from rising.

Minamitsu smiles as she calmly drinks her tea, and Byakuren smiles with glee as she softly claps her hands together and says "oh, that sounds so lovely! We'll be there!"

Ail manages to toss a few invitations and shouts "great. Now could you... help me already!"

Remilia shouts "stop running and let me FEED!"

Byakuren tilts her head left and giggles, then says "oh my, mister Ail. That looks like a fun game. What's it called?"

Ail shouts "somebody, HELP!"

Ail opens up another gap, and he and Remilia immediately rush inside.

After they leave, Shou rushes to Byakuren and asks "are you alright, lady Hijiri?"

Byakuren stares back at Shou with a childish smile on her face, then Shou's face turns blue and asks "you want to try that out, don't you?"

Byakuren nods, now smiling whimsically, but Shou shakes her head and says "nah-ah, no way. That is too dangerous for you and..."

Byakuren prepares a small orb of energy on her hand, then Shou sweats and says "no, no! Wait, Hijiri, don't!"

Before she knows it, Shou finds herself flying away from Byakuren, who giggles as she shoots at her, while she cries out "someone help me!"

Byakuren whimsically says "no, no, it's 'somebody, HELP!"

Shou cries "just stop already!"

Meanwhile, at the Moriya Shrine, Budou walks up to Sanae, who is happily humming while dusting the living room cupboard, and suddenly lifts up her skirt and just stares.

Sanae yelps and pulls down her skirt, then turns around with her cheeks turning red and angrily asks "hey, what do you think you are doing young lady?"

Budou blinks a couple of times before finally looking up at Sanae's face, then says "eh? Mama, what's wrong?"

Sanae angrily says "don't try to trick me, young lady, this... wait... KOISHI!"

Hiding by the entrance, Koishi gasps and tries to run away, but Sanae summons a powerful gust that sends her flying against a tree, keeping her in a daze while Sanae catches up.

She grabs Koishi by her ear, pulls her up, then says "stop messing with Budou, you little twerp!"

Dizzily, Koishi replies "I'm not 'twerp'. I'm Koishi!"

Before Sanae replies, Ail's gap opens up, and he and Remilia fly out at ridiculous speeds, Ail shouting "Moriya Shrine can come to Hakurei Shrine for the party! WAAH~!"

Remilia shouts "stop already! It's just a few drops!"

Ail shouts back "stop being such a brat!"

Remilia shouts "oh, for that one, I'm taking EXTRA!"

Ail shouts back "you'll have to catch me first!"

Ail manages to toss a few more invitations and flies away, Budou quickly chasing after them, shouting "hey you! Leave papa alone, you mean vampire!"

Remilia shouts "stay away from me, you little monster!"

Ail shouts "don't you DARE talk to her that way!"

Budou shouts "just give me a second and I'll BLAST her out of the sky!"

Remilia shouts "let's see you TRY!"

Budou's eyes turn aquamarine as she sends a paralyzing sound wave at Remilia, but Ail opens up another gap, and he and Remilia enter it long before Budou's attack reaches the vampire.

The gap closes up just before Budou can enter, then she looks around and shouts "dammit, I lost her!"

Sanae picks up the invitations and calls "Budou, come on down, young lady. And stop cursing. Girls shouldn't..."

Before she can finish her sentence, Suwako jumps out from under the ground, asking "hey, Sanae, what's all the ruckus?", and tossing a few large rocks in the air, and one of them falls right on Sanae's left foot.

Sanae gasps and stares awestruck for a while, then all of a sudden she starts screaming out loud, cursing her mouth off and making both Koishi and Suwako blush.

Budou slowly flies down to Sanae, and with a smug smirk she asks "you were saying?"

At the Hakurei Shrine, Marisa sweeps the shrine grounds with a displeased look on her face, while Rika cleans the floors inside the shrine, and Reimu sits by the donation box, observing Marisa sweep.

Marisa sighs with a low growl, then says "you know, you could help out any time."

Reimu smiles widely and says "but you're doing such a great job. I don't want to get in your way."

Marisa face palms and says "alright, that's it", and pulls her Hakkero out of her hat.

Reimu's eyes widen and her pupils shrink as she shouts "what, what the hell are you doing?"

Marisa smirks and lets out a quick chuckle, and right before she fires her beam, a gap opens right beside her, and like beams of light, Ail and Remilia fly out of it, knocking Marisa away.

Ail shouts "see what you made me do?"

Remilia shouts back "if you'd just let me drink your blood already, this wouldn't happen!"

Ail shouts back "just leave me ALONE already!"

Remilia shouts back "let me drink your blood already!"

Just like that, Ail opens another gap, and off they go.

Rika runs outside and stops right next to the surprised Reimu and asks "my lady, what was all that just now?"

Marisa's body trembles as she gets up from the ground, having landed all the way by the shrine's storage house.

She manages to raise her head and painfully stutter "s-somebody... he-help me~."

Ail's gap opens up at Eintei, and he and Remilia immediately fly out, both looking like beams of light coursing through the air.

Ail shouts "Remilia, I swear, if you keep this up, I'm going to have to fight back!"

Remilia shouts back "well it would be better if you do already, you coward!"

Ail and Remilia stop right above the mansion, then Ail pulls a spell card from his left pocket and says "alright, you asked for it! Brightness, Overwhelming Heart!"

At the same time, Remilia pulls out her own spell card and shouts "Spear of the Gungnir!"

Both spell cards activate, then a pair of arrows from below strike Ail and Remilia hard, knocking them both down to the ground and canceling their spells.

Eirin walks to Ail and Remilia as they get up, and Ail pulls out the arrow from his arm and shouts "dammit, what's the deal? That really hurt!"

Remilia pulls her arrow from her back, then shouts "this wouldn't have happened if you just let me drink your blood already, like a real man would!"

Ail shouts back "a real man would hit you with garlic and stake your heart!"

Remilia and Ail spring up and press their faces against each other as they try to push each other around, then Eirin grabs them by the back of their shirts and says "well, well. It seems you two are at it again. You will follow me now, or face the consequences."

Ail angrily asks "Eirin, what the hell was the deal with the arrows?"

Remilia angrily adds "you have to be a FOOL to challenge a vampire with such primitive weapons! I'm gonna-"

Eirin stares at both with murderous eyes and says "you threatened to destroy the princess' mansion with your spells, and you dare talk back? I say, you two have a serious lack of respect to others."

Ail's and Remilia's faces turn blue at the sight of Eirin, then both bow at the same time and say "I'm sorry!"

At the clinic, Eirin has Ail tied to a metal chair that has many needles and transparent tubes around it.

Eirin looks playfully at Ail, then says "now I get to try my latest advancement in medical evolution. This chair will comfortably take your blood and safely place it inside these bags over here."

Eirin presents Ail with 8 large transparent bags, each capable of containing 8 pounds of blood.

Ail trembles and asks "er... is this even humane?"

Eirin smiles and says "relax. A half youkai like you should be fine. The chair will injects you with the necessary nutrients so you won't turn to dust."

Ail's face turns blue again as he says "wait, wait, wait! Eirin, I don't think-"

Eirin ignores Ail's pleas and pushes a red button on a control connected to the chair, and one needle comfortably sets itself on Ail's left arm, and starts pumping nutrients in him, while another sets itself on his, right arm, then starts taking his blood.

Remilia watches and drools as the blood quickly travels through a transparent tube and into the bags, slowly filling them up.

Ail seems to be in a trance as he smiles while staring at the ceiling and saying "oh, what lovely colors the butterfly ceiling has."

3 hours later, Remilia pays Eirin a pack of money, and with a content look on her face, she and Sakuya take to the sky, Remilia saying "tonight, we'll have a feast!"

Sakuya replies "I'll have the fairy maids clean the special dining room, my lady."

After they leave, Eirin smiles while pocketing the money, then says "Udonge, let's go check on Ail."

Reisen sweats and asks "you forgot about him?"

Eirin and Reisen head to the back room, where she has Ail tied to the special chair, however upon entering the room, she and Reisen's face turn dark blue as they watch in shock and surprise.

Instead of Ail on the chair, there is a black dust that blows away along with unknown winds.

Reisen asks "ma... he... Master, what are we going to do?"

Eirin's panic prevents her from saying a word, but after she takes a deep breath, she says "he wasn't here. He never came this way. Yes, nobody knows where he is... OUCH!"

Eirin jumps on her right foot while holding on to her left, asking "ouch! Who the hell kicked me?"

Reisen looks to the floor beside Eirin and spots Ail in his miniature dog form, then says "oh no. Not again!"

Ail blows a puff of air and says "relax. I had to take this form to escape that blasted machine. It almost vaporized me. Anyway, while I recover all that lost blood I'll have to stay like this."

Eirin bends down and asks "so, you don't want a boost to speed that process up?"

Ail looks up at Eirin with annoyance and says "I think I'll go the 'manly way' and wait patiently."

Reisen smiles while sweating, then says "well, good luck with that, mister Ail."

Ail nods, then looks at Eirin and says "you did help me with Remilia there, so I won't tell Sanae or the goddesses. Well, here you go."

Ail hands them some white envelopes and says "the invitations to the shrine's party. Be there, alright?"

Eirin smiles and nods, while Reisen bows and says "thanks. We will be there, right Master?"

Eirin sighs and nods, and after a few seconds, dog Ail is flying toward the human village at speeds.

During the course of the day, Ail delivers all the invitations, from Alice and Rinnosuke, Kyo and Keine, all the way to the Tengu Mountain, and the subterranean world.

Two nights later, at the Hakurei Shrine, lights, music, drinks, games kiosks spread all over the shrine, each with different attractions.

Ail, who is back to his old self, is accompanied by Budou and Sanae, as they walk all the way to the very back of the shrine grounds, where the last kiosk is being run by Kanako and Suwako, where the goddesses try to keep Satori, Okuu, Petal and Koishi, as well as a few human villagers, entertained with a ridiculous display of pie-tossing, danmaku juggling, and the occasional blunder from either goddess, which ends up with a fight.

Petal giggles, while sitting on Okuu's lap, then exclaims "clowns, clowns. They are not shcary, they are funny, Momkuu!"

Ail, Budou and Sanae laugh hard at the sight, and decide to walk away before they are spotted.

On their way back, Budou notices Alice's puppet show and exclaims "wait, I want to see this!"

Ail and Sanae look at each other with a smile, then look back at Budou and nod.

When they arrive, already watching the show are three humans, Flandre, Meiling, Rumia, Ran and Chen. Alice's puppet show includes a song from Hourai and Shanghai, while Alice herself manages the lifeless dolls on the background to dance at the rhythm of the song.

Unlike the rest of the spectators, who are enjoying the show, Chen is staring at something on the side of the kiosk, raising her back-side while swaying her tails, all her attention on the unseen object.

Right after they finish, Alice, the dolls and the two tiny girls bow to the small crowd as they applaud their performance.

Alice says "thank you, thank you very much. Please, give another round for Shanghai and Hourai, for their beautiful performance."

While everyone else applauds, Chen pounces from her seat, makes Alice yelp out, then pulls on a lose piece of string that is attached to Alice's dolls and the tiny stage's curtain.

Alice shouts "wait, no! You'll break it."

Ran shouts "Chen, stop! I'm terribly sorry, miss Alice! Chen~! Stop that already! CHEN~~"

Ail, Budou and Sanae look at each other, then sweat and walk away, leaving Alice, Shanghai, Hourai and Ran, to deal with the out of control Chen.

Finally, they reach the shrine itself, and find Reimu and Marisa sitting side-by-side at the porch.

Ail says "well, if it isn't the two hosts."

Sanae worriedly asks "aren't you two supposed to be hosting?"

Marisa replies "yeah, we're letting Suika and Mima handle that."

Ail asks "but wait, with all the humans here, won't that be a problem?"

Reimu casually says "relax. We got Byakuren, Keine, Kyo, Luna, Rika, you guys. If anything goes wrong, we can do something about it", then her eyes glint as she says "and I'm getting lots and lots of donations!"

Ail bluntly asks "what? How is that even possible?"

A yin-yang orb falls from the sky and lands straight on to Ail's head, then Marisa says "heh, it turns out the people thinks Rika is an angel of the shrine. And since she's the one handling the greetings..."

Reimu happily continues "she's really bringing in the money!"

Ail, Budou and Sanae stare at Reimu in disbelief, then Ail sweats and fakes a smile as he asks "shouldn't you also be happy about the faith for your god?"

Ail covers his head, waiting for the next yin-yang orb to hit, but nothing happens.

Reimu sits there with a smile, then says "but don't you see. With each donation, not only are they sharing their wealth, they are also sharing their faith."

The shrine bell rings and Phredia excitedly exits Budou's heart and flies around, then lands on Budou's shoulder.

Reimu softly says "you hear that? Another prayer has been made. With that, the faith also increases. Thanks to Rika, it's only a matter of time before this shrine's god presents itself to us. I am... very grateful for that."

Ail and Sanae smile at Reimu, then Sanae suddenly gasps and exclaims "wait! That means my shrine will get less faith!"

Marisa quickly says "maybe. Maybe not. I don't really believe faith is so linear. Maybe it can be shared."

Sanae sweats and says "I don't think that's prudent thinking."

At the front of the shrine, Rika greets a human couple, gently flapping her wings as she bows and says "welcome to the Hakurei Shrine. Please, enjoy yourselves while you are here."

The woman exclaims "oh, what a cute little angel!"

The man adds "wow, you're right! Hey, if this shrine has angels, then perhaps we should offer a prayer!"

The woman smiles and nods, then says "good idea, honey! We might get a good fortune."

Rika sweats and smiles nervously, then says "well, miss Reimu. It seems we are finally getting some donations."

Back at the shrine's entrance, Sanae watches with horror as the bell rings again, and donations are made.

She sighs, calms down, then thinks "lady Yasaka, lady Moriya, we're going to need to do something."

Reimu sighs, then asks "hey, Ail... are you really going through with your plan?"

Ail nods and says "Shinki and Shikieiki have agreed, and I got the higher-ups permission. There's no way I'm stopping now."

Reimu asks "but what if you end up stuck?"

Ail smiles and says "I won't. Everything will be just fine."

The next morning, Ail, Budou and Phredia step out of the house, then Ail opens up a black gap, grabs hold of Budou, then says "Phredia, hold on to me, and protect Budou while we're out there."

Phredia nods, then they go inside the gap.

Immediately, they find themselves in the front gates of Pandemonium, where Yumeko and Shinki stand in wait.

Ail calmly says "sorry we're so late. Are you ready for this?"

Shinki smiles and nods, then says "oh yes. I agree he's been in there far too long. Let's get him out."

Ail smiles and nods, then opens another black gap.

Before the small party enters, Yumeko says "lady Shinki, you be very careful."

Shinki smiles and nods, then says "I'll be back soon, so don't you worry."

They enter the gap and immediately find themselves in a familiar, bleak world. The sky is dark violet, the floors and mountains look intense red, like they could burn the skin to the touch.

The trees look dead, some dripping a black substance from their bark, some having few black leaves on their dry-looking branches, and the air itself feels so cold, it could freeze anyone in seconds.

Ail holds on tightly to Budou as she looks around, almost ready to cry, then looks at Shinki and says "call him."

While Shinki closes her eyes to concentrate, Ail asks Budou "remember this place? This is where we found you and Phredia after..."

Budou buries her face in Ail's chest and cries "I know."

Phredia pats Budou's head, trying to comfort her, then Ail says "it's alright, Budou. You're not staying here."

Shinki opens her eyes and says "he's here."

On the skies, a gigantic black dragon, with skin that looks smooth and tough, like a plate of armor, intense red eyes 3 times the size of a human, and wings large enough to cover an entire continent from the sun, flies to a nearby mountain and says "well this is a nice surprise. Lady Shinki, little Ail. It's been a long... time."

Ail, who continues to hold Budou, and Shinki, fly up to the sky, then Ail shouts "we're here to give you the chance that was taken from you so unfairly, all those years ago."

The dragon hums, then asks "pardon me, but... what are you speaking of?"

Shinki smiles and says "you get another chance, my ancient friend."

A gigantic creature reveals itself standing beside Dai-Drecon, so big, they can only see his legs, as the rest of his body hides behind some dark clouds, and in a thunderous, demanding voice, he says "you are not taking anyone from here!"

Ail's voice seems to echo all over that bleak world as he says "you are no longer keeping him in here against his will."

Shinki's voice echoes all over the world as well, as she says "we have permission from the five yamas, as well as direct permissions from the higher spirits."

Ail adds "you wouldn't want to go against their wishes now, would you?"

For a moment, the creature emanates a powerful aura, making his anger known to all, making Budou and Phredia tremble as they bury their faces in Ail's chest, then calms down.

He growls softly, then says "go, and don't let me catch any of you in here again."

After saying that, the monstrous creature slowly vanishes from sight.

Dai-Drecon looks confused toward Shinki and Ail, then asks "what's going on?"

Ail grabs Budou and says "hold on to lady Shinki."

Shinki grabs Budou and Phredia, then Ail smile at the large dragon, then says "be free."

Ail screams as he summons great power to himself, then slowly opens up a gigantic white gap large enough for Dai-Drecon to go through.

When the dragon looks inside the gap, he gasps and asks "is this... Is this the world of the dragons?"

Ail grunts as he struggles to keep his concentration, then says "everyone... get inside already!"

Shinki, who now holds Budou and Phredia, rushes inside and says "come, my friend! Come, and leave this unsuitable world behind."

Dai-Drecon hesitates for a moment, then suddenly lunges inside the gap, followed closely by Ail, who as soon as he stops concentrating, causes the gap to close off violently.

For Dai-Drecon, the moment he sets foot on the Dragon's Paradise, he is overwhelmed by many excited and happy emotions, making him cry as he says "this is... home. After so many years, I'm finally..."

From behind, a black and white dragon silently flies close, then says "welcome home, master."

When Dai-Drecon turns around, he narrows his eyes to focus on the guardian dragon, then gasps and says "it's you."

The guardian dragon nods, extends his arm, then says "come. There is much we need to talk about."

Dai-Drecon turns around again, saying "wait, I haven't thanked Shinki, or Ail prop..."

When he realizes it, Shinki, Ail, Budou and Phredia are already gone.

He turns around to look at the guardian dragon, who still offers his hand, then says "my child... I missed you so much."

The guardian dragon smiles and repeats "welcome home... master", and finally, he and Dai-Drecon hold each other's hands.

The next day, at noon, Ail and Budou arrive to the Hakurei Shrine, and immediately meet with Reimu, Marisa, Rika, Alice and Sanae.

While Shanghai and Hourai cling to Rika, Alice and Sanae take a soak at the hot springs, and Marisa, Reimu, Budou and Ail sit on the shrine porch, waiting for Rika to bring them their tea.

Ail suddenly says "I had forgotten how beautiful Gensokyo can really be. You know, it really feels good to be back home."

Reimu smiles, then chuckles and says "it's strange to finally see you settling down. You're not going somewhere to find someone, or something. Budou is right here... *sigh* It must be nice."

Marisa smiles and says "I bet it is", then looks at Ail and smirks mischievously and says "say, Ail. There's this experiment I want to try out and I was wondering..."

Before she finishes, Ail bluntly says "no", and continues to smile while looking at the trees around the shrine.

Budou jumps on Ail's lap and says "you're not taking papa away again!"

Marisa smiles, then says "I was just teasing, ze."

Rika finally arrives with a tray of tea and snacks for everyone at the porch, and Budou immediately grabs a few cookies and munches down while still sitting on Ail's lap.

Hourai and Shanghai cling around Rika's neck as she kneels down, flaps her wings, then says "you know, now that mister Ail is here, perhaps miss Reimu can take it easy?"

Ail takes a sip of his tea, then says "I may be able to help a lot, but I'm not Reimu."

From the left side, Kyo says "exactly. He's just some blundering fool with plenty of luck and an equal amount of friends to back him up."

Luna, Medicine and Su-San stand to Kyo's right, then Luna giggles and says "and from what I've been told, there is a certain shrine maiden with those very same qualities."

Medicine adds "I've also heard of the maid of this shrine that seems to be making quite a few friends as well."

For a moment, the group at the porch stare at the group in front of them, then they all start laughing heartily, while unknown to them, Rika's sword takes its colorful shape, and the diamond on the hilt starts glowing bright blue.

Suddenly, a large washtub falls on Medicine, knocking her down and covering her tiny frame underneath.

Up in the sky, Aya and Hatate argue as to who will take the picture of the event, then a pair of silver washtubs fall right on top of their heads, sending them crashing to the ground below.

From the Tengu Mountain, Momiji giggles and while she takes notes, she says "they make this all too easy."

At the Moriya Shrine, Kanako, Suwako, and Satori chase after Koishi, who runs ahead of them while laughing and saying "you don't really want to catch me!"

Down at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, inside Patchouli's library, Flandre is riding on Koakuma's back, shouting "faster, horsey!", while Koakuma cries for Patchouli's help, even though Patchouli ignores them and continues to read her books.

On the main hall, Remilia sits with a prideful smile, watching as Sakuya approaches her with her tea, saying "my lady, you special tea is ready."

Remilia rubs her hands together and ominously says "excellent. That blood of his will keep me nourished for days!"

Sakuya giggles and says "my lady is in such high spirits today."

Outside on the gates, Meiling sneezes, then looks around and says "it's getting a little cold. Hope I don't come down with something."

Down by the lake, Cirno, Daiyousei and Rumia stand around the shore, then Cirno boastfully says "I'll show you how strong I am. Watch this!"

She jumps to the air and rapidly flaps her wings as she violently places her forearms together, then manages to freeze the water, all the way to half of the lake.

She turns around, expanding her chest and smiling with pride, then says "see? I am definitely the strongest ever!"

Amazed, Daiyousei and Rumia gasp as they stare at Cirno's accomplishment, then notices a strange formation on it.

Daiyousei asks "Cirno-chan, what is that?"

Cirno looks at the strange round formation in the ice for a while, then smiles and says "it's nothing," while thinking "I almost got it. Just a little more, and I'll be able to shape Letty's face with my power."

And so, Gensokyo finally returns to its normal, peaceful, yet chaotic way, Ail has finally returned to the home he thought he didn't have, and Marisa has gained a little more wisdom after her experience.

However, even though everything is peaceful now, this chaotic world will always have its comings and goings...

At the Youkai Forest, there is a powerful explosion that rattles all the way up to the Hakurei Shrine, and Nitori's voice echoes as she says "oops. Sorry~!"

Paradise Sukima The End

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Kyo, Luna, Kimi, Kali and Dai-Drecon were created by Willie G.R.

Ail's "Brightness, Overwhelming Heart" spell card was created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

May 16 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

**A/N:**

**And here it is. The REAL final chapter. Quite a peaceful chapter, but I guess they all deserve a break after all they've been through. I meant to add something about Rika and Ail here, however, I believe it would be prudent to save it for later.**

**Anyway, I want to thank everyone for your reviews and comments. Really, it makes me very, very happy to know you liked my work. Really, it makes me happy. Now, before I start working on my next Sukima, know that I'll be working on some mishaps, maybe a few spin-offs, and after those, then I'll start on the Sukima. Oh well. Thank you all very much for reading, and again, I am glad you liked Paradise Sukima so much. Well, see you next time, if the spirits will allow, and take care.**


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